Sodium Danshensu inhibits the progression of lung cancer by regulating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

Sodium Danshensu, extracted from the root of the Salvia miltiorrhiza, has pleiotropic effects including anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation and anti-tumor. However, whether Sodium Danshensu has an anti-cancer effect in lung cancer remains to be elucidated. The present study aimed to illustrate the effects of Sodium Danshensu on lung cancer cells and the potential molecular mechanisms. BEAS-2B, A549, and NCI-H1299 cells were stimulated with 25, 50, and 100 mu M Sodium Danshensu for 24, 48, and 72 h, and then cell viability, apoptosis, migration and invasion were determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), flow cytometry and Transwell assays, respectively. Moreover, the levels of Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9), B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) associated X (Bax), Bcl-2, phosphorylated (p)-phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and p-Protein kinase B (AKT) in lung cancer cells were evaluated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and/or Western blot assays. We observed that Sodium Danshensu suppressed cells viability, migration, and invasion, as well as promoted cells apoptosis in A549 and NCI-H1299 cells in a dose-dependent manner, while Sodium Danshensu had no cytotoxic effect on the proliferation activity of BEAS-2B cells. Moreover, the expression of PCNA, MMP9, Bcl-2 were decreased, but Bax was up-regulated in Sodium Danshensu-treated A549 and NCI-H1299 cells. Our findings also revealed that Sodium Danshensu inhibited PI3K/AKT pathway in A549 and NCI-H1299 cells. In conclusion, our study provided the first evidence that Sodium Danshensu suppressed the malignant biological behaviors of lung cancer cells, indicating that Sodium Danshensu might be a latent candidate for lung cancer therapy.