Evodiamine inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in gastric cancer cells

In the present study, the effects of evodiamine on the apoptosis of human gastric cancer cells was studied in order to assess its antitumor effects and identify the molecular mechanisms involved. SGC7901 gastric cancer cells were treated with evodiamine at various concentrations (0, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 mu mol/l) for 24 h. Inhibition of the proliferation of SGC7901 cells was assessed using an MTT assay. The morphology of treated SGC7901 cells was observed using optical microscopy; in addition, the effect of evodiamine on the nuclear morphology of cells was analyzed using Hoechst 33258 staining with fluorescence microscopy. Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide staining and flow cytometric analysis were used for investigating the effect of evodiamine on the induction of apoptosis in SGC7901 cells. Expression levels of survivin and caspase-3 were examined using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The results demonstrated that evodiamine significantly inhibited SGC7901 cell proliferation (P<0.05) and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). Morphological characteristics of apoptosis were confirmed using optical microscopy and Hoechst 33258 staining analysis indicated that evodiamine treatment resulted in the typical characteristics of apoptotic programmed cell death, including cell shrinkage and apoptotic body formation. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that evodiamine induced the dose-dependent apoptosis of SGC7901 cells. Messenger (m)RNA levels of survivin decreased and those of caspase-3 increase in a dose-dependent manner in SGC7901 cells treated with various concentrations of evodiamine for 24 h. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrated that evodiamine inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells via the downregulation of survivin and upregulation of caspase-3 mRNA.