| Objective To investigate the effect of quercetin on proliferation and apoptosis of human cervical cancer cell line C33A and its mechanisms. Methods C33A was treated with quercetin alone(blank control, 20, 40, 80 μmol/L), combined with cisplatin(quercetin 40 μmol/L+cisplatin 10 μg/mL) or cisplatin alone(blank control, 5, 10, 15, 20 μg/mL) at different time points(24 h and 48 h). MTT assay was used to detect cell viability; flow cytometry was employed to detect cell cycle in quercetin treated C33A cells; Western blotting was applied to detect the expression of Cyclin D1, Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 in quercetin treated C33A cells. Results By treatment with quercetin for 24 h, cell vitality was (86.92±3.953)% (20 μmol/L), (66.54±3.932)%(40 μmol/L) and (52.21±2.970)% (80 μmol/L); by treatment with quercetin for 48h, the cell vitality was (65.19±7.071)% (20 μmol/L), (47.04±8.881)% (40 μmol/L) and (29.71±6.505)% (80 μmol/L), compared with (96.97±1.788)% in blank control group(P<0.05); moreover, after treatment with quercetin(40 μmol/L)+ cisplatin (10 μg/mL), cell vitality decreased to (31.12±2.835)% (24 h) and(17.86±3.182)% (48 h) (P<0.05). Quercetin could increase the number of G0/G1 cells and reduce the number of S cells in C33A cells. Quercetin could down-regulate the expression of Cyclin D1 and up-regulate the expression of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 in C33A cells. Conclusion Quercetin inhibits cell vitality and cell proliferation by down-regulating the expression of Cyclin D1 in C33A cells, and it may also induce cell apoptosis through up-regulating the expression of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9. |
