Experimental Study on Apoptosis of Rhabdomyosarcoma Cells Induced by Ursolic Acid

Objective To study the growth-inhibition and the mechanism of apoptosis induced by ursolic acid on RD rhabdomyosarcoma cells.Methods Rhabdomyosarcoma cells were treated with ursolic acid for 3days.The cytotoxicity was observed by MTT assay.The apoptotic rates were show by flow cytometry(FCM).Electron microscopy and DNA gel electrophoresis were applied to demonstrate the presence of apoptosis.Results Rhabdomyosarcoma cells treated with ursolic acid(10、20、40μmol /L),the cytotoxicity index were 11.3%、20.5%、42.6%,respectively,the apoptostic rates were 9.1%、16.6%、27.2%;The obvious apoptosis morphological changes in rhabdomyosarcoma cells were shown by electron microscope.Conclusion Ursolic acid is able to inhibite the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of rhabdomyosarcoma cells.