Pulsatilla Saponin A Induces Apoptosis and Differentiation of Myeloma Cells.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the performance of Pulsatilla saponin A (PsA) in multiple myeloma (MM) cells. METHODS Proliferation, cell cycle analysis, apoptosis and TUNEL assays were conducted to detect the growth and apoptosis in MM cells. Western blotting was used to identify the change in protein. RESULTS In cells assays, PsA significantly inhibited the growth and apoptosis in MM cells. Cyclin B1, caspase-3, cleavedcaspase-3, PARP, cleaved-PARP, p-ERK were increased, while Bcl-2 were decreased after PSA treated. The CD49e positive rate of U266 cells was increased after PsA treated 96h. At the same time immunoglobulin and the free light chain (FLC) ratio in the culture supernatant obviously increased after treated. Also, the differentiation induced by PsA was confirmed in the primary myeloma cells. CONCLUSIONS Our findings revealed PsA may exert its antitumor effect by causing G2 arrest and apoptosis in myeloma cells. And low-dose PsA can induce the differentiation of myeloma cell lines and primary myeloma cells, probably through the MEK/ERK signaling pathway in vitro.