Saikosaponin D exerts cytotoxicity on human endometrial cancer ishikawa cells by inducing apoptosis and inhibiting metastasis through MAPK pathways.

Saikosaponin D (SSD) is one of plant secondary metabolic active substance with effective anti-tumor ability; however, the toxicity of Saikosaponin D on human endometrial cancer Ishikawa cells is still unclear. Our results revealed that SSD displayed cytotoxicity on the Ishikawa cell with an IC50 = 15.69 µM, but was non-toxic to the human normal cell line HEK293. SSD could upregulate p21 and Cyclin B to keep cells in the G2/M stage. In addition, it activated the death receptor and mitochondrion routes to induce apoptosis in Ishikawa cells. The transwell chamber and wound healing results showed that SSD inhibited the cell migration and invasion. In addition, we found that it was closely related to the MAPK cascade pathway, and it could mediate the three classical MAPK pathways to block cell metastasis. In conclusion, SSD could be potentially beneficial as a natural secondary metabolite in preventing and treating endometrial carcinoma.