Effect of evodiamine on the proliferation and apoptosis of A549 human lung cancer cells

Evodia rutaecarpa is a plant, which has antitumor activity. Evodiamine is an alkaloid with antitumor activity present in E. rutaecarpa and has potential to be developed into a therapeutic antitumor agent. The present study investigated the effect of evodiamine on the proliferation of A549 human lung cancer cells and the mechanism underlying these effects. The results indicated that evodiamine significantly inhibited proliferation, induced apoptosis and the expression of reactive oxygen species, arrested the cell cycle, regulated the expression of Survivin, Bcl-2 and Cyclin B1, regulated the activity of caspase-3/8 and glutathione in tumor cells, and decreased the activity of AKT/nuclear factor-B (NF-B) and Sonic hedgehog/GLI family zinc finger 1 (SHH/GLI1) signaling pathways in A549 cells. In conclusion, the evodiamine-induced inhibition of the proliferation of A549 lung cancer cells may be attributable to its ability to promote oxidative injury in the cells, induce apoptosis, arrest the cell cycle and regulate the AKT/NF-B and SHH/GLI1 signaling pathways, subsequently controlling the expression of tumor-associated genes.