Figure 1.

(A) The structural formula of berbamine (molecular weight: 753.80). (B) Berbamine inhibits the growth of KM3 cells. The experiment was done in triplicate and the cells were treated as described in Materials and methods. The total number of viable cells was determined by MTT assay. (C) Berbamine enhances the growth inhibitory effect of conventional chemotherapeutic agents. KM3 cells were cultured with control media and with 1 or 2 μg/mL berbamine in the absence or presence of Dex (1 μmol/L), Dox (0.25 μmol/L), and ATO (1 μmol/L) for 48 h and then subjected to MTT assay. B and C, data represent mean±SD of quadruplicate cultures. ^bP<0.05. (D) Berbamine induces cell apoptosis. KM3 cells were untreated or treated with 8 μg/mL berbamine for 6, 12, 24, and 36 h, respectively. Percentages of apoptotic cells (green color) were determined by staining with Annexin V and PI followed by flow cytometry. (E) Giemsa-Wright staining of KM3 cells cultured in absence (a) or presence of berbamine (b) for 24 h. Arrows indicate apoptotic cells.