Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effects and molecular mechanisms of shikonin on liver cancer SMMC-772 cells. Methods: SMMC-7721 cells were treated with shikonin at the concentrations of 0, 5, 20, 80 and 320 ng/ml for 0, 24, 48 and 72 h respectively. The proliferative activity of the cells was detected by CCK8 assay. The nuclear type changes of cells was observed after hoechst 33342 staining. Flow cytometry was used to analyze cell apoptosis and death rate. The expressions of proteins in cells were determined by Western blot, and the tumor inhibitive effects were observed through anti-tumor experiment on the BALB/c mice. Results: In vitro experiments, shikonin could inhibit the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells and induce their apoptosis(P＜0.01), up-regulate the expression of p53 gene, down-regulate the phosphorylation levels of AKT and PI3K protein. In vivo study also confirmed that shikonin could significantly inhibit the growth of tumor in tumor-bearing mice(P＜0.01)in dose-dependent and time-dependent manners. Conclusion: Shikonin can inhibit the proliferation activitity and induce apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells by affecting the PI3K/AKT signal pathway and has potential anti-liver cancer functions.

Key words: Shikonin, liver cancer cells SMMC-7721, PI3K/AKT signal pathway, cell apoptosis