Antitumor Effect of Schizandrin by Inhibiting Angiogenesis

Schizandrin의 신혈관형성억제에 의한 항암효과

Schizandra chinensis extract has been known to possess a variety of efficacy including antitumor. However, it remains unclear how schizandrin, which is a major biological active ingredient of Schizandra chinensis, exerts antitumor effect. This study was designed to investigate the mechanism by which schizandrin inhibits tumor growth and metastasis. In in vivo test using tumor model mice injected with B16BL6 cell line, mice treated with 10 and 100 ${\mu}g/ml$ schizandrin showed a significant inhibition by $73.79{\pm}6.43%$ and $90.46{\pm}1.72%$, respectively, compared with positive tumor controls. Schizandrin did not exert a significant toxicity for the normal cells (HUVECs) and tumor cell lines (A549, B16BL6, Du145, Huh7). Treatment with schizandrin at 10 and 100 ${\mu}g$/head significantly inhibited the tumor-induced angiogenesis by $68.04{\pm}32.21%$ and $103.8{\pm}34.99%$ compared with the positive control group, respectively. Using in vivo lung metastasis model, tumor metastasis assay revealed that 10 and 100 ${\mu}g$/head schizandrin significantly decreased the metastatic lung tumor by $37.51{\pm}8.15%$ and $75.53{\pm}4.38%$ compared with positive controls, respectively. On the other hand, schizandrin did not affect the adherence of B16BL6 cell line to extracellular matrix protein. These results demonstrate that schizandrin exerts inhibitory effect on tumor growth and metastasis by inhibiting angiogenesis. This study thus suggest that schizandrin may be a candidate molecule target for cancer drug development.