Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of salidroside(Sal) on proliferation, apoptosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT) of osteosarcoma cell lines(HOS and U2OS). Methods Osteosarcoma HOS and U2OS cells were incubated with different concentrations of Sal for 24 h. Cell activity and apoptosis were detected by MTT assay and flow-cytometry, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the expression of Bcl-2/Bak and EMT-related molecules E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Slug and Snial. Subsequently, the effects of Sal on cell invasion and migration were detected by Transwell assay and cell scratch assay. Finally, the level of EMT-related molecules E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Slug and Snial was detected by Western blot after treatment with PI3K/Akt inhibitor. Results Different concentrations of Sal significantly inhibited cell activity of HOS and U2OS cells, increased the cellular apoptosis rate and expression of Bak, while reduced the expression of Bcl-2 in cells. The invasion rate and migration of HOS and U2OS cells were significantly reduced after incubation with Sal at 150 μmol/L.The expression of E-cadherin was up-regulated, while N-cadherin, Slug and Snial expression were down-regulated in HOS and U2OS cells after incubation with Sal at 150 μmol/L.After incubation with PI3K/Akt inhibitor, the expression of E-cadherin was further increased as compared with the cells treated with Sal alone, while the expression of N-cadherin, Slug and Snial was significantly decreased(P＜0.05). Conclusions Sal may inhibit the proliferation, invasion, migration of osteosarcoma cell lines,promote their apoptosis and decreases the EMT through inhiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway of osteosarcoma cell lines.

Key words: salidroside, osteosarcoma cell line, apoptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition