Matrine inhibits the growth of retinoblastoma cells (SO-Rb50) by decreasing proliferation and inducing apoptosis in a mitochondrial pathway

Matrine, one of the main active components of extracts from the dry roots of Sophora flavescens, has potent anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Here, we investigated the apoptosis in matrine-treated retinoblastoma cells. The results showed that matrine could inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Further investigation revealed that a disruption of mitochondrial transmembrane potential and an up-regulation of reactive oxygen species in matrine-treated cells. By western blot analysis, we found that the up-regulation of cleaved Apaf-1, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, cleaved caspase-7, Bax/Bcl-2, varying with different concentration of matrine. These protein interactions may play a pivotal role in the regulation of apoptosis. Taken together, these results overall indicate that matrine could be used as an effective anti-tumor agent in therapy of retinoblastoma targets the caspase-dependent signaling pathway.