Abstract:

Objective: To explore the proliferative effect and potential mechanisms of Rosa roxburghii Tratt triterpene (RRTT)
on human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells. Methods: Morphological changes, growth curves and MTT assay were used to
evaluate the anti-proliferative effect of RRTT on SMMC-7721 cells. Detection of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level in cultured
medium supernatant and NBT reduction assay were carried out to evaluate the inducive effect of RRTT on the differentiation
of SMMC-7721 cells. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were examined by AO/EB fluorescent staining and flow cytometry.
SMMC-7721 cells treated with RRTT were collected for Bad transcript analysis by real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase
chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: The inhibitory effect of RRTT on the growth of SMMC-7721 cells tended to be in
RRTT dose-dependent and time-dependent manners. The ratio of NBT positive cells revealed an obvious increase and AFP
concentration of cultured medium exhibited a decline with increasing RTT dose when compared with the control. No obvious
difference in apoptosis or cell cycle distribution of SMMC-7721 cells was observed between the RRTT group and control
group. Relative mRNA level of Bad in SMMC-7721 cells was down-regulated by RRTT. Conclusion: RRTT has anticancer
effect on SMMC-7721 cells in vitro. Its possible mechanism is due to the cytoxicity and induction on cell differentiation via
Bad mRNA down-regulation, rather than the apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferative cycle.

Key words: Rosa roxburghii Tratt, triterpene, human hepatoma SMMC-7721, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, apoptosis