Int J Mol Sci. 2014 Sep 4;15(9):15622-37. doi: 10.3390/ijms150915622.

Potential Therapeutic Roles of Tanshinone IIA in Human Bladder Cancer Cells.

Chiu SC¹, Huang SY², Chang SF¹, Chen SP³, Chen CC⁴, Lin TH⁵, Liu HH⁶, Tsai TH⁷, Lee SS⁸, Pang CY⁹, Hsieh TF¹⁰.

Abstract                

Tanshinone IIA (Tan-IIA), one of the major lipophilic components isolated from the root of Salviae Miltiorrhizae, has been found to exhibit anticancer activity in various cancer cells. We have demonstrated that Tan-IIA induces apoptosis in several human cancer cells through caspase- and mitochondria-dependent pathways. Here we explored the anticancer effect of Tan-IIA in human bladder cancer cell lines. Our results showed that Tan-IIA caused bladder cancer cell death in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Tan-IIA induced apoptosis through the mitochondria-dependent pathway in these bladder cancer cells. Tan-IIA also suppressed the migration of bladdercancer cells as revealed by the wound healing and trans well assays. Finally, combination therapy of Tan-IIA with a lower dose of cisplatin successfully killed bladder cancer cells, suggesting that Tan-IIA can serve as a potential anti-cancer agent in bladder cancer.