Inhibitory effects of sodium aescinate on cell proliferation in human anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cell HTh74

Objective To investigate the potent inhibitory effects of sodium aescinate on human anaplastic thyroid cancer cell line HTh74 and its molecular mechanism. Methods Different concentrations of sodium aescinate(0, 20, 40, 60, 80 μmol/L) were used to treat HTh74 cells for 48 h, and the morphological changes of cells were observed. After treated with different concentrations of sodium aescinate(0, 20, 40, 60, 80 μmol/L), 3-(4, 5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2, 5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide(MTT)assay was used to detect the inhibitory effects of sodium aescinate on proliferation of HTh74 cells and cell proliferation rate, 50% inhibitory concentration(IC50)were calculated. After treated with different concentrations of sodium aescinate(0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 μmol/L), Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of protein kinase B(Akt), phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) and cell cycle-related proteins. Results After treated with sodium aescinate, cells shrinked significantly in a dose dependent manner. MTT assay showed that sodium aescinate had obvious inhibitory effect on HTh74 cell growth in a time and dose dependent manner, when treated with 80 μmol/L sodium aescinate for 24 h, the inhibitory effects on the cell growth had statistical significance (F=111.4, P 0.05). Conclusion Sodium aescinate can inhibit the proliferation of HTh74 cells, and the molecular mechanisms may be mediated by regulation of Akt, p-Akt and CDK2. Key words: Anaplastic thyroid cancer; HTh74; Sodiun aescinate; Cell cycle; Apoptosis