Proteome changes related to the anti-cancer activity of HT29 cells by the treatment of ginsenoside Rd

Ginseng is a representative herbal medicine in Asia and various pharmacological activities of ginsenoside R-d isolated from ginseng have been reported. However, anti-cancer activity and mechanism of ginsenoside R-d in HT29 colon cancer cell lines were not studied yet. We performed proteomic analysis through two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS and database to identify altered protein induced by ginsenoside R-d treatment in HT29. We can identify fourteen proteins contributed to cell growth inhibition induced by R-d. Proteins involved in the inhibition of mitosis (Stathmin1, Microtubule-associated protein RP/EB family and Stratifin) were significantly up- and down-regulated. And proteins associated with apoptosis (Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor, Tropomyosin1 and Annexin5) were significantly changed. Furthermore, ginsenoside R-d in HT29 was involved in cytoprotection, DNA replication and repair, protein synthesis and degradation, metastasis and mutagenesis. It was supposed that ginsenoside R-d contributed to induce anti-cancer activity by complementary functions of these proteins in colon cancer cells.