Escin, a Natural Mixture of Triterpene Saponins, Exhibits Antitumor Activity Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Escin, a mixture of triterpene saponins extracted from Aesculus wilsonii Rehd., was used to analyze the antitumor effect in hepatocellular carcinoma in vivo and in vitro. At a dose of 2.8 mg/kg, escin had a rather high inhibition ratio (43.5 %) on mice H22 tumor growth in vivo. The results of the SRB cell viability assay showed that escin could induce significant concentration- and time-dependent inhibition of HepG₂ cell viability. Disruption of the G₁/S phase of cell cycle progression accompanied by the induction of apoptosis were also observed in HepG₂ cells following escin treatment. The results of pulse-field gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis show the induction of caspase-independent apoptosis by escin. This study provides evidence that escin induces cell cycle checkpoint arrest and caspase-independent cell death in HepG₂ cells, in support of its efficacious potential as a chemopreventive agent.

escin - antitumor activity - hepatocellular carcinoma - inhibition - cell cycle arrest - caspase‐ independent apoptosis

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