Ginsenoside-Rh2 Inhibits Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis of Human Gastric Cancer SGC-7901 Side Population Cells

Abstract Objectives: To observed the effects of ginsenoside -Rh2 (GS-Rh2) on proliferation and apoptosis of side population (SP) human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells. Materials and Methods : SGC-7901 SP and Non-SP cells were sorted by flow cytometry and assessed using the cck-8 method. Expression of apoptosis-related proteins Bax and Bcl-2 of SP before and after the intervention was determined by Western-blotting. Results: It was found that the proliferation of SP was significantly faster than that of NSP ( P <0.05). In addition, GS-Rh2 inhibited proliferation of gastric cancer SP cells, induced cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis, and changed the expression of BAX/Bcl-2 proteins in a time-dependent and concentration-dependent manner ( P <0.05). Conclusions : With increase of GS-Rh2 dose, GS-Rh2 gradually inhibit the proliferation of SGC-7901 SP cells, which have high proliferation rate, through G1/G0 phase arrest, followed by apoptosis which involves the up-regulation of Bax and the down-regulation of Bcl-2. Keywords: