Abstract: In this study, we determined the content of total glucosinolates in fresh Brassica juncea var. integlifolia by UV spectrophotometry, identified the structures of glucosinolates by high performance?liquid chromatography of quadrupole time of flight-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS), and evaluated the effects of glucosinolates extracted from Brassica juncea var. integlifolia on the proliferation and apoptosis of human colon cancer cell line HCT116 by flow cytometry, Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR. The results showed that the content of total glucosinolates in fresh Brassica juncea var. integlifolia was 15.45 mg/g. Three major glucosinolates were identified from the extract (the total glucosinolates content was 73.7%) including 2-allyl glucosinolate, 4-methyl thiobutyl glucosinolate and 4-methoxy 3-indolemethyl glucosinolate. The glucosinolate extract had no inhibitory effect on normal human colonic myofibroblasts CCD-18Co cells, but led to cell cycle arrest in HCT116 cells by down-regulating cell cycle genes and related signaling proteins (cyclin B, cyclinD1, and led to the apoptosis of HCT116 cells cyclinE) by up-regulating apoptotic genes and related signaling proteins (caspase-3, and cleaved caspase-3), thereby inhibiting cell proliferation.

Key words: Brassica juncea var. integlifolia; glucosinolates; human colon cancer cell line HCT116; cell apoptosis; proliferation; colon cancer