Berberine inhibited the growth of thyroid cancer cell lines 8505C and TPC1.
OBJECTIVE
Thyroid cancer is the most common malignancy in Korean females and can be treated with good prognosis. However, drugs to treat aggressive types of thyroid cancer such as poorly differentiated or anaplastic thyroid cancer have not yet been established. To that end, we analyzed the effects of berberine on human thyroid cancer cell lines to determine whether this compound is useful in the treatment of aggressive thyroid cancer.


METHODS
The two thyroid cancer cell lines 8505C and TPC1, under adherent culture conditions, were treated with berberine and analyzed for changes in cell growth, cell cycle duration, and degree of apoptosis.


RESULTS
Following berberine treatment, both cell lines showed a dose-dependent reduction in growth rate. 8505C cells showed significantly increased levels of apoptosis following berberine treatment, whereas TPC1 cells showed cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Immunobloting of p-27 expression following berberine treatment showed that berberine induced a little up-regulation of p-27 in 8505c cells but relatively high up-regulation of p-27 in TPC1 cells.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that berberine treatment of thyroid cancer can inhibit proliferation through apoptosis and/or cell cycle arrest. Thus, berberine may be a novel anticancer drug for the treatment of poorly differentiated or anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Department of Surgery, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kyoung Sik
KS
Park
Jong Bin
JB
Kim
Jaeman
J
Bae
Seo-Young
SY
Park
Hyeon-Gun
HG
Jee
Kyu Eun
KE
Lee
Yeo-Kyu
YK
Youn
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001599:Berberine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001599:Berberine