Effect of lycorine on the structure and function of hepatoma cell membrane in vitro and in vivo

Figures & data

Table 1. Lycorine inhibited HepG 2 cell proliferation in vitro.

Groups	Concentration (µmol/L)	OD value	Inhibition rate (%)	IC50
Control	0	0.755 ± 0.127	–	–
Lycorine	1.55	0.547 ± 0.081*	27.55	5.73
	3.1	0.397 ± 0.096*	47.42
	6.2	0.348 ± 0.064*	53.91
	12.4	0.275 ± 0.080*	63.58
	24.8	0.283 ± 0.074*	62.52
HCPT	1.4	0.432 ± 0.097*	42.78	4.25
	2.8	0.424 ± 0.084*	43.84
	5.6	0.354 ± 0.079*	53.11

Each dose compared with control: *p < 0.01.

Figure 1. Morphology of HepG-2 cells with or without lycorine treatment in vitro. Inverted microscopy (magnification 10 × 40). Cells treated with lycorine 3 μmol/L (A), 6 μmol/L (B) or 12 μmol/L (C); Control (D); Cells treated with 4 μmol/L HCPT (E).

Figure 2. Morphology of HepG-2 cells with or without lycorine treatment in vitro. Fluorescence microscopy (magnification 10 × 40). Cells treated with lycorine 3 μmol/L (A), 6 μmol/L (B) or 12 μmol/L (C); Control (D); Cells treated with 4 μmol/L HCPT (E).

Figure 3. HepG-2 cell death rate in vitro. Flow cytometry. Cells treated with lycorine 3 μmol/L (A), 6 μmol/L (B) or 12 μmol/L (C); Control (D); Cells treated with 4 μmol/L HCPT (E).

Table 2. Effect of Lycorine on cell membrane components of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG-2 cells in vitro ($\overline{x}\pm s,$ n = 6).

Groups	Dose (µmol/L)	Protein content (g/L)	SA content (mmol/L)	Cholesterol content (mol/L)
Control	0	1.368 ± 0.027	3.600 ± 0.036	5.903 ± 0.082
HCPT	4	1.039 ± 0.032*	1.575 ± 0.047*	3.119 ± 0.080*
Lycorine	3	1.129 ± 0.025*	2.438 ± 0.059*	5.459 ± 0.053*
	6	0.971 ± 0.006*	1.851 ± 0.073*	4.230 ± 0.048*
	12	0.334 ± 0.026*	1.219 ± 0.061*	3.084 ± 0.055*

Each dose compared with control: *p < 0.01.

Table 3. Effect of lycorine on tumor cell membrane fluidity and integrity ($\overline{x}\pm s,$ n = 6).

Groups	Dose (µmol/L)	Lipid fluidity	Integrity (%)
Control	0	5.533 ± 0.462	20.09 ± 0.11
HCPT	4	4.087 ± 0.352*	14.18 ± 0.56*
Lycorine	3	4.738 ± 0.243*	17.59 ± 0.24*
	6	4.110 ± 0.193*	14.29 ± 0.33*
	12	3.464 ± 0.142*	6.28 ± 0.28*

Each dose compared with control: *p < 0.01.

Table 4. Effect of lycorine on tumor cell membrane ATP activity in vitro ( $\overline{x}\pm s,$ n = 6).

Groups	Dose (µmol/L)	Na^+, K^+-ATPase (μmol/mg/h)	Ca^2+, Mg^2+-ATPase (μmol/mg/h)
Control	0	9.635 ± 0.080	2.816 ± 0.024
HCPT	4	3.521 ± 0.073*	0.764 ± 0.030*
Lycorin	3	6.494 ± 0.041*	2.271 ± 0.055*
	6	3.913 ± 0.048*	1.277 ± 0.033*
	12	1.632 ± 0.030*	0.341 ± 0.035*

Each dose compared with control: *p < 0.01.

Table 5. Effect of lycorine on tumor growth and length of life of H22 tumor-bearing mice ($\overline{x}\pm s,$ n = 20).

Group	Dose (mg/kg)	Tumor weight (g)	Inhibitory rate (%)	Survival time (d)	Life extension rate (%)
Control	–	1.37 ± 0.08	–	10.38 ± 0.24	–
HCPT	6	0.83 ± 0.12**	39.41	15.49 ± 0.18**	49.23
Lycorine	10	1.05 ± 0.06*	23.36	13.40 ± 0.23*	29.09
	20	0.87 ± 0.09**	36.50	15.59 ± 0.14**	50.19
	40	0.59 ± 0.05**	56.93	17.55 ± 0.11**	69.08

Each dose compared with control group (tumor model without treatment): *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

Figure 4. Cell death rate of tumor cells in H22 tumor-bearing mice. Treatment with lycorine 10 mg/kg (A), 20 mg/kg (B), 40 mg/kg (C); Control (D); hydroxycamptothecin treatment (E).

Table 6. Effect of lycorine on H22 tumor-bearing mice tumor cell membrane composition ($\overline{x}\pm s,$ n = 20).

Group	Dose (mg/kg)	Protein content	SA content	Cholesterol content
Normal	–	0.632 ± 0.018	0.647 ± 0.021	6.265 ± 0.043
Control	–	0.552 ± 0.019*	0.818 ± 0.015*	5.393 ± 0.053*
HCPT	6	0.433 ± 0.015*, **	0.569 ± 0.014*, **	3.093 ± 0.057*, **
Lycorine	10	0.477 ± 0.020*, **	0.772 ± 0.012*, **	3.761 ± 0.054*, **
	20	0.419 ± 0.014*, **	0.635 ± 0.016*, **	3.184 ± 0.056*, **
	40	0.359 ± 0.013*, **	0.307 ± 0.019*, **	2.123 ± 0.055*, **

Each group compared with normal (healthy) group *p < 0.01.

Each dose group compared with control group (tumor model without treatment) **p < 0.01.

Table 7. Effect of lycorine on tumor cell membrane fluidity and membrane integrity in H22 tumor-bearing mice ($\overline{x}\pm s,$ n = 20).

Group	Dose (mg/kg)	Lipid fluidity	Integrity (%)
Normal	–	8.134 ± 0.276	74.32 ± 0.92
Control	–	7.157 ± 0.123*	61.92 ± 1.20**
HCPT	6	4.491 ± 0.292*, **	33.08 ± 1.02*, **
Lycorine	10	5.712 ± 0.479*, **	44.37 ± 1.94*, **
	20	1.797 ± 0.391*, **	26.24 ± 1.76*, **
	40	0.590 ± 0.147*, **	20.14 ± 1.15*, **

Each group compared with normal (healthy) group *p < 0.01.

Each dose group compared with control group (tumor model without treatment) **p < 0.01.

Table 8. Lycorine impact on tumor cell membrane ATP activity.

Group	Dose (mg/kg)	Na^+, K^+-ATPase (μmol/mg/h)	Ca^2+, Mg^2+-ATPase (μmol/mg/h)
Normal	–	1.655 ± 0.035	0.989 ± 0.023
Control	–	1.442 ± 0.039*	0.877 ± 0.021*
HCPT	6	1.074 ± 0.045*, **	0.469 ± 0.014*, **
Lycorine	10	1.374 ± 0.027*, **	0.679 ± 0.023*, **
	20	1.134 ± 0.051*, **	0.450 ± 0.036*, **
	40	0.853 ± 0.028*, **	0.132 ± 0.028*, **

Each group compared with normal (healthy) group *p < 0.01.

Each dose group compared with control group (tumor model without treatment) **p < 0.01.