Anemone flaccida Fr. Schmidt, a family of ancient hopanoids, have been used as traditional Asian herbs for the treatments of
inflammation and
convulsant diseases. Previous study on HeLa cells suggested that
triterpenoid saponins from Anemone flaccida Fr. Schmidt may have potential antitumor effect due to their apoptotic activities. Here, we confirmed the apoptotic activities of the following five
triterpenoid saponins:
glycoside St-I4a (1),
glycoside St-J (2), anhuienoside E (3), hedera
saponin B (4), and
flaccidoside II (5) on human BEL-7402 and HepG2
hepatoma cell lines, as well as the model of HeLa cells treated with
lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We found that COX-2/
PGE2 signaling pathway, which plays key roles in the development of
cancer, is involved in the antitumor activities of these
saponins. These data provide the evidence that
triterpenoid saponins can induce apoptosis via COX-2/
PGE2 pathway, implying a preventive role of
saponins from Anemone flaccida in
tumor.