Oridonin-induced mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in esophageal cancer cells by inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR and Ras/Raf pathways.

Oridonin, an active diterpenoid isolated from Rabdosia rubescens, has been reported for its antitumor activity on several cancers. However, its effect on human esophageal cancer remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that oridonin could inhibit the growth of human esophageal cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Oridonin not only suppressed the proliferation, but also induced cell cycle arrest and mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in KYSE-30, KYSE-150, and EC9706 cells with dose-dependent manner. Further mechanism studies revealed that oridonin led cell cycle arrest in esophageal cancer cells via downregulating cell cycle-related proteins, such as cyclin B1 and CDK2, while upregulating p53 and p21. Oridonin also increased proapoptotic protein Bax and reduced antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, as well as the increased expression of cleaved caspase-3, -8, and -9. In addition, oridonin treatment could significantly inhibit the PI3K/Akt/mTOR and Ras/Raf signaling pathway. In vivo results further demonstrated that oridonin treatment markedly inhibited tumor growth in the esophageal cancer xenograft mice model. Taken together, these results suggest that oridonin may be a potential anticancer agent for the treatment of esophageal cancer.

Revealing the parasitic infection in diarrheic yaks by piloting high-throughput sequencing.

Diarrhea a serious disease, reported to be related with changes in microbial diversity is widely epidemic in the yaks on the Qinghai Tibet plateau. Herein, we preformed high-throughput sequencing of the parasitic diversity in 3 groups of yaks i.e. healthy adult yaks (HA), diarrheic adult yaks (DA) and diarrheic yak calves (DC) in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The results showed that 2 Phyla, 3 Classes, 5 Orders, 4 Families and 6 Genera were discovered in HA yaks; 2 Phyla, 3 Classes, 6 Orders, 6 Families and 8 Genera were found in DA yaks while 2 Phyla, 5 Classes, 5 Orders, 10 Families and 7 Genera were observed in DC yaks. At Phylum level, Nematoda and Apicomplexa were detected in all three yak groups; however, Apicomplexa was found to be conspicuously higher in the DC yaks as compared to DA yaks (p < 0.05). At Class level, Litostomatea, Chromadorea and Gregarinasina were found in all three yak groups, while Spirotrichea and Colpodea were only found in the DC yaks. At Order level, Vestibuliferida, Tritrichomonadida, Rhabditida and Eugregarinorida were observed in all three yak groups; and Neogregarinorida was noted HA and DC yaks while Trichomonadida and Hypotrichomonadida were only found in DA yaks. Tritrichomonadida was found to be relatively higher in the DA yaks when compared with HA yaks (p < 0.05) and DC yaks (p < 0.05). At Family level, Simplicimonadidae and Haemonchidae were found in all three yak groups. Trichostrongylidae was observed in both HA and DA yak groups. Syncystidae was established in both HA and DC yak groups except DA yaks. Trichomonadidae and Dictyocaulidae were only found in DA yaks. Plectidae, Strongylidae, Echinamoebidae, Lecudinidae, Pseudokeronopsidae and Panagrolaimidae were only discovered in DC yaks. Simplicimonadidae was found to be remarkably higher in DA yaks as compared to HA and DC yak groups (p < 0.05); and Haemonchidae was detected at higher levels in HA yaks as compared to DA and DC yaks (p < 0.05). At Genus level, Entamoeba, Buxtonella and Haemonchus were found in all three yak groups. Plectus and Echinamoeba were only found in DC yaks; while Trichostrongylus and Trepomonas were observed in HA and DA yak groups. The genus Gregarina was found in both diarrheic yak groups; while the genera of Tetratrichomonas and Dictyocaulus were observed in DA yaks only. The present study herein reported an insight of the change of parasitic diversity in diarrheic yaks at high altitude area, which shall make contribution towards the solid prevention of diarrhea in yaks.

Single molecule force spectroscopy for in-situ probing oridonin inhibited ROS-mediated EGF-EGFR interactions in living KYSE-150 cells.

As the active anticancer component of Rabdosia Rubescens, oridonin has been proved to show strong anticancer activity in cancer cells, which is also found to be closely related to its specific inhibition effects on the EGFR tyrosine kinase activity. In this study, atomic force microscopy based single molecule force spectroscopy (AFM-SMFS) was used for real-time and in-situ detection of EGF-EGFR interactions in living esophageal cancer KYSE-150 cells to evaluate the anticancer activity of oridonin for the first time. Oridonin was found to induce apoptosis and also reduce EGFR expression in KYSE-150 cells. AFM-SMFS results demonstrated that oridonin could inhibit the binding between EGF and EGFR in KYSE-150 cells by decreasing the unbinding force and binding probability for EGF-EGFR complexes, which was further proved to be closely associated with the intracellular ROS level. More precise mechanism studies based on AFM-SMFS demonstrated that oridonin treatment could decrease the energy barrier width, increase the dissociation off rate constant and decrease the activation energy of EGF-EGFR complexes in ROS dependent way, suggesting oridonin as a strong anticancer agent targeting EGF-EGFR interactions in cancer cells through ROS dependent mechanism. Our results not only suggested oridonin as a strong anticancer agent targeting EGF-EGFR interactions in ROS dependent mechanism, but also highlighted AFM-SMFS as a powerful technique for pharmacodynamic studies by detecting ligand-receptor interactions, which was also expected to be developed into a promising tool for the screening and mechanism studies of drugs.

Ursolic acid-loaded chitosan nanoparticles induce potent anti-angiogenesis in tumor.

Angiogenesis provides necessary nutrients and oxygen for tumor growth and metastasis; thus, every stage of angiogenesis process is the potential target for cancer therapies. Ursolic acid (UA) is reported to decrease tumor burden through anti-angiogenesis pathway, but its poor water solubility greatly limits its efficiency and clinical application. Here, a simple method for preparing UA-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CH-UA-NPs) with anti-angiogenesis and anti-tumor activity was demonstrated. In vitro, CH-UA-NPs could significantly inhibit the proliferation, migration, and tube formation of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs). After uptake by HUVECs, CH-UA-NPs were mainly localized in lysosomes and mitochondria, but not nuclei. CH-UA-NPs induced the destruction of lysosome membrane integrity, collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, and reorganization of cell cytoskeleton. All these changes led to the apoptosis or necrosis in HUVECs. In vivo, CH-UA-NPs could inhibit the angiogenesis in chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model and H22 xenograft model. Notably, comparing with free UA, such synthesized CH-UA-NPs could save about tenfold of UA doses, implying that this could significantly decrease the side effects induced by high doses of UA in biological organism. Our data showed that CH-UA-NPs and this nanoparticle-based drug delivery system could be as a potential drug candidate for anti-angiogenesis treatment.

Advances in the Synthesis and Bioactivity of Polysaccharide Selenium Nanoparticles: A Review.

Selenium, an essential trace element of the human body, is pivotal in human health and disease prevention. Nevertheless, the narrow therapeutic index of selenium, where the toxic and therapeutic doses are close, limits its clinical utility. Significantly, nanoscale selenium synthesized by different methods using polysaccharides as stabilizers has low toxicity properties and exhibits excellent bioactivity. Its biological activities, such as anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and immune function enhancement, are improved compared with traditional organic and inorganic selenium compounds, conferring greater potential for application in biomedicine. Therefore, this review evaluates the advancements in various synthesis methodologies for polysaccharide selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) and their biological activities. It aims to provide a comprehensive theoretical basis and research directions for the future development of highly efficient, minimally toxic, and biocompatible polysaccharide-Se NPs and the application of polysaccharide-Se NPs in biomedicine.

Research progress and future development potential of Flammulina velutipes polysaccharides in the preparation process, structure analysis, biology, and pharmacology: A review.

In recent years, Flammulina velutipes (F. velutipes) has attracted consequential attention in various research fields due to its rich composition of proteins, vitamins, amino acids, polysaccharides, and polyphenols. F. velutipes polysaccharides (FVPs) are considered as key bioactive components of F. velutipes, demonstrating multiple physiological activities, including immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. Moreover, they offer health benefits such as antioxidant and anti-aging properties, which have exceptionally valuable clinical applications. Polysaccharides derived from different sources exhibit a wide range of biomedical functions and distinct biological activities. The varied biological functions of polysaccharides, coupled with their extensive application in functional foods and clinical applications, have prompted a heightened focus on polysaccharide research. Additionally, the extraction, deproteinization, and purification of FVPs are fundamental to investigate the structure and biological activities of polysaccharides. Therefore, this review provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of the extraction, deproteinization, purification, characterization, and structural elucidation of FVPs. Furthermore, the biological activities and mechanisms of FVPs have been further explored through in vivo and in vitro experiments. This review aims to provide a theoretical foundation and guide future research and development of FVPs.

Oridonin promotes RSL3-induced ferroptosis in breast cancer cells by regulating the oxidative stress signaling pathway JNK/Nrf2/HO-1.

The incidence and mortality of breast cancer, the most common malignant tumor among women in the world, are increasing year by year, which greatly threatens women's health. Ferroptosis is an iron and lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent process, a novel form of cell death that is distinct from apoptosis and is closely related to the progression of breast cancer. Inducing the occurrence of ferroptosis in tumor cells can effectively block its malignant progress in vivo. Oridonin (ORI), the primary active ingredient extracted from the Chinese herbal medicine Rabdosia rubescens, has been shown to cause glutathione depletion and directly inhibit glutathione peroxidase 4 induced cell death by ferroptosis, but its mechanism of action in breast cancer remains inadequately elucidated. Therefore, we further investigated whether ORI could promote RSL3-induced ferroptosis in breast cancer cells by regulating the oxidative stress pathway JNK/Nrf2/HO-1. In our study, we assessed cell survival of RSL3 and ORI treatment by MTT assay, and found that co-treatment with RSL3 and ORI inhibited cell proliferation, as evidenced by the cloning assay. To investigate the ability of ORI to promote RSL3-induced ferroptosis in breast cancer cells, we measured levels of ROS, malondialdehyde, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and Fe2+ content. Lipid peroxidation, ROS, and mitochondrial membrane potential levels induced by co-treatment of ORI with RSL3 were reversed by ferrostatin-1, further confirming that the cell death induced by RSL3 and ORI was ferroptosis rather than other programmed cell death modes. Moreover, RSL3 and ORI co-treatment regulated the JNK/Nrf2/HO-1 axis, as demonstrated by western blotting and target activator validation. Our results showed that ORI could enhance the inhibitory effect of RSL3 on breast cancer cells viability via the induction of ferroptosis. Mechanistically, it potentiated RSL3-induced ferroptosis in breast cancer cells by activating the JNK/Nrf2/HO-1 axis. This study provides a theoretical basis for the application of ORI based on the mechanism of ferroptosis, and provides potential natural drug candidates for cancer prevention and treatment.

Atomic force microscopy of chronic lymphatic leukaemia cells activation induced by Staphylococcus aureus.

Activation of lymphatic cells is associated with changes in morphology, ultrastructure and adhesion force. We have investigated the activation efficiency of Staphylococcus aureus (SAC) on B-cell chronic lymphatic leukaemia (B-CLL) cells using atomic force microscopy (AFM), and found changes in the above properties. Cell viability and proliferation were measured using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). AFM clearly showed that the volume and nuclear-cytoplasm ratio of cells increased significantly with activated time. It also showed that pseudopodia and immunological synapses began to appear at 24 h. In the activation process, nano-structures of the cell surface became aggregated, and adhesion increased. In conclusion, the results indicate a close relationship between membrane reconstruction and multiplication process of B-CLL cells.

Synthesis and synergetic effects of chrysin-organogermanium (IV) complex as potential anti-oxidant.

Organogermanium(IV) (Ge) is considered to play an important role in the anti-oxidative activities of some Chinese medicines. Here, a new chrysin-organogermanium (Chry-Ge) complex was synthesized and investigated for its potential biological activities. The radicals-sensitive Ge-O bond was introduced to Chry-Ge complex to enhance bioactivities of organic Ge or Chry. Results showed that Chry-Ge complex possessed great anti-oxidative activities, showing stronger hydroxyl scavenging effects than their corresponding ligands. We also demonstrated Chry-Ge complex inhibited ROS-dependent oxidative damage in cells. Moreover, the morphological and biophysical recoveries in oxidation-damaged cells induced by Chry-Ge complex were characterized by atomic force microscopy. All these results collectively suggested that Chry-Ge complex has synergetic effect for radicals scavenging and could be served as promising pharmacologically active agent against anti-oxidative treatment.

Anti-tumor activity evaluation of novel chrysin-organogermanium(IV) complex in MCF-7 cells.

Chrysin (5,7-dihydroxylflavone, Chry) is a natural product extracted from plants, honey, and propolis. In this work, a novel chrysin-organogermanium(IV) complex (Chry-Ge) with enhanced anticancer activities was synthesized, and its potential anticancer effects against cancer cells were measured using various methods. MTT results showed that Chry-Ge had significant inhibition effects on the proliferation of MCF-7, HepG2 and Colo205 human cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner while had little cytotoxic effects on MCF-10A human normal cells (MCF-10A cells) with the same treatment of Chry-Ge. These results suggested that Chry-Ge possessed enhanced anticancer effects and high selectivity between cancer cells and normal cells. The immuno-staining results showed that the nuclei of MCF-7 cells represented a total fragmented morphology and a disorganized cytoskeletal network in MCF-7 cells after Chry-Ge treatment. Besides, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was applied to detect the changes of ultrastructural and biomechanical properties of MCF-7 cellular membrane induced by Chry-Ge. The AFM data indicated that Chry-Ge treatment directly caused the decrease of cell rigidity and adhesion force of MCF-7 cells, suggesting that membrane toxicity might be one of the targets for Chry-Ge in MCF-7 cells. Moreover, the fluorescence-based flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that Chry-Ge could induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells in ROS-dependent mitochondrial pathway. All results collectively showed that Chry-Ge could be as a promising anticancer drug for cancer therapy.

Pathway of cytotoxicity induced by folic acid modified selenium nanoparticles in MCF-7 cells.

Selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) have been recognized as promising materials for biomedical applications. To prepare Se NPs which contained cancer targeting methods and to clarify the cellular localization and cytotoxicity mechanisms of these Se NPs against cancer cells, folic acid protected/modified selenium nanoparticles (FA-Se NPs) were first prepared by a one-step method. Some morphologic and spectroscopic methods were obtained to prove the successfully formation of FA-Se NPs while free folate competitive inhibition assay, microscope, and several biological methods were used to determine the in vitro uptake, subcellular localization, and cytotoxicity mechanism of FA-Se NPs in MCF-7 cells. The results indicated that the 70-nm FA-Se NPs were internalized by MCF-7 cells through folate receptor-mediated endocytosis and targeted to mitochondria located regions through endocytic vesicles transporting. Then, the FA-Se NPs entered into mitochondria; triggered the mitochondria-dependent apoptosis of MCF-7 cells which involved oxidative stress, Ca(2)+ stress changes, and mitochondrial dysfunction; and finally caused the damage of mitochondria. FA-Se NPs released from broken mitochondria were transported into nucleus and further into nucleolus which then induced MCF-7 cell cycle arrest. In addition, FA-Se NPs could induce cytoskeleton disorganization and induce MCF-7 cell membrane morphology alterations. These results collectively suggested that FA-Se NPs could be served as potential therapeutic agents and organelle-targeted drug carriers in cancer therapy.

Research Progress and Future Development Potential of Oridonin in Pharmacological Activities.

In recent years, attention has increasingly focused on herbal medicines and their bioactive components attributed to their multi-target pharmacological activity and low side effects. Oridonin is a natural diterpenoid extracted from the traditional Chinese herb and is one of the main active components of Rabdosia rubescens. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that oridonin has anti-tumor, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, cardiovascular protective, immunomodulatory, and other effects. Based on the published literature in recent years, we outline the pharmacological activities of oridonin, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the design and development of new oridonin-based drugs, as well as to facilitate the process of oridonin for clinical use.

The Natural Product Oridonin as an Anticancer Agent: Current Achievements and Problems.

Oridonin, an active diterpenoid isolated from traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has received a rising attention for its remarkable roles in cancer therapy. In recent years, increasing evidence have revealed that oridonin inhibits the occurrence and development of tumor cells through multiple mechanisms, including induction of apoptosis and autophagy, cell cycle arrest, and inhibition of angiogenesis as well as migration and invasion. In addition, several molecular signal targets have been identified, including ROS, EGFR, NF-κB, PI3K/Akt, and MAPK. In this paper, we review considerable knowledge about the molecular mechanisms and signal targets of oridonin, which has been studied in recent years. It is expected that oridonin may be developed as a novel anti-tumor herbal medicine in human cancer treatment.

Cinobufacini induced MDA-MB-231 cell apoptosis-associated cell cycle arrest and cytoskeleton function.

Cinobufacini is a traditional Chinese anti-tumor drug and widely used in clinic experiences. But little is known about its effect on the cells. In this study, the effects of cinobufacini on breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell were evaluated by CCK-8 assay, and the data showed cinobufacini could inhibit the MDA-MB-231 cells growth effectively in dose-dependent and time-dependent manners. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry analysis. After the cells being treated with 50 µg/mL cinobufacini for 48 h, the early apoptosis percentage (20.45 ± 1.46%) is much higher than the normal group (7.73 ± 1.21%). The cell cycle data indicated that cinobufacini caused a cell cycle arrest at S phase. What's more, cinobufacini can affect the disruption of cytoskeleton, and these alterations changed the cell-surface ultrastructure and the cell morphology which were detected by atomic force microscopy (AFM) at nanoscale level. It indicated that the cell membrane structure and cytoskeleton networks were destroyed and the cell tails were narrowed after the cell being treated with cinobufacini. The present study is to provide valuable new insights to understand the mechanism of the drug in anti-tumor process. Furthermore, the knowledge concerning the signaling of cell cycle is potentially important to clinical utility.

Oridonin exhibits anti-angiogenic activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells by inhibiting VEGF-induced VEGFR-2 signaling pathway.

Oridonin has been found to be a potential anti-angiogenesis agent. However, its functional targets and the underlying mechanisms are still vague. In vitro studies we found that oridonin not only inhibited VEGF-induced cell proliferation, migration and tube formation but also caused G2/M phase arrest and triggered cellular apoptosis in HUVECs. In mechanistic studies revealed that oridonin exhibited the anti-angiogenic potency, at least in part, through the down-regulation of VEGFR2-mediated FAK/MMPs, mTOR/PI3K/Akt and ERK/p38 signaling pathways which led to reduced invasion, migration, and tube formation in HUVECs. Our results could provide evidence that oridonin exerts strong anti-angiogenesis activities via specifically targeting VEGFR2 and its signaling pathway.

Effect of selenium nanoparticles against abnormal fatty acid metabolism induced by hexavalent chromium in chicken's liver.

The effect of selenium on excessive fatty acid-induced apoptosis and abnormal amino acid metabolism in the liver is well known, because it is an important site in the fatty acid metabolism pathway. However, the protective role of nano-elemental selenium (nano-Se) supplementation against hexavalent chromium (K2Cr2O7)-induced abnormal fatty acid metabolism has not been evaluated yet. Therefore, we conducted chicken experiments with different nano-Se supplementation doses to investigate the role of nano-Se against Cr(VI)-induced adverse effects. For this purpose, a total of 120 1-day-old chicks were randomly divided into control group, Cr(VI)-exposed group, protection group, treatment group, prevention group, and nano-Se control group. The results of RT-qPCR showed that the nano-Se supplementation notably downregulated (P < 0.01) the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of fatty acid synthase (FASN), whereas nano-Se supplementation significantly upregulated (P < 0.01) the mRNA expression level of acyl-coenzyme A oxidase 1 (ACOX1) in chicken's liver at day 35 of the experiment. Similar results were further verified by western blot analysis. Moreover, nano-Se supplementation significantly enhanced and reduced the antibody expression levels of ACOX1 and FASN in immunohistochemical analysis, respectively. Thus, finally, it was concluded that nano-Se can alleviate K2Cr2O7-induced abnormal fatty acid metabolism in chicken's liver.

Effect of Anacardic Acid against Thiram Induced Tibial Dyschondroplasia in Chickens via Regulation of Wnt4 Expression.

Tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) is a tibia bone problem in broilers. Anacardic acid (AA) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which is commonly used to treat arthritis in human. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of AA against TD. A total of 300 day-old poultry birds were equally divided and distributed into three different groups: Control, TD and AA groups. The results showed that the feed conversion ratio was significantly lower in the TD group than control chickens. The tibia bone parameters including weight, length and width were of low quality in TD chickens, while the width of the tibial growth plate was enlarged remarkably. Whereas, in the AA treatment group, the tibia bone parameters showed improvement and tend to return to normal. The antioxidant parameters level of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total and antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) was significantly decreased, while malondialdehyde (MDA) level was increased significantly in TD affected chickens. AA administration restored the antioxidant parameters significantly. The gene expression revealed a decrease in Wnt4 expression in TD chickens as compared to control chickens, while AA treatment up-regulated the Wnt4 expression. The present study demonstrates that the AA plays an important role to prevent the lameness and restore the size of tibial growth plate of chickens by regulating the expression of Wnt4.

The Advancing of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are used in an increasing number of industrial products such as rubber, paint, coating, and cosmetics. In the past two decades, ZnO NPs have become one of the most popular metal oxide nanoparticles in biological applications due to their excellent biocompatibility, economic, and low toxicity. ZnO NPs have emerged a promising potential in biomedicine, especially in the fields of anticancer and antibacterial fields, which are involved with their potent ability to trigger excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, release zinc ions, and induce cell apoptosis. In addition, zinc is well known to keep the structural integrity of insulin. So, ZnO NPs also have been effectively developed for antidiabetic treatment. Moreover, ZnO NPs show excellent luminescent properties and have turned them into one of the main candidates for bioimaging. Here, we summarize the synthesis and recent advances of ZnO NPs in the biomedical fields, which will be helpful for facilitating their future research progress and focusing on biomedical fields.

Functional graphene oxide as cancer-targeted drug delivery system to selectively induce oesophageal cancer cell apoptosis.

Graphene oxides (GO) is a promising building material to fabricate desired drug delivery system due to its excellent physicochemical properties. In this study, an innovative nano-drug (Ori@GE11-GO) was constructed based on GE11 peptide functionalized GO for targeted delivery of oridonin to realize the specific recognition of tumour cells and enhance anticancer efficiency. GE11 surface modification onto GO significantly increased the cellular uptake of GO in EGFR overexpressed oesophageal cancer cells (KYSE-30 and EC109 cells) than that of normal cells, indicating the EGFR targeting effects of Ori@GE11-GO. The internalized Ori@GE11-GO could accumulate into lysosomes and significantly inhibit the viability of cancer cells. Moreover, Ori@GE11-GO could effectively induce KYSE-30 and EC109 cells cycle arrest, apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential (△Ψm) disruption through the activation of apoptotic signalling pathways and the inhibition of EGFR/Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signalling pathway, showing potential use of Ori@GE11-GO for cancer treatment. Taken together, this study demonstrates a good strategy for the construction of bio-functionalized GO drug delivery nanosystem to improve the cancer targeting efficiency of anticancer medicines.

Chinese herb medicine matrine induce apoptosis in human esophageal squamous cancer KYSE-150 cells through increasing reactive oxygen species and inhibiting mitochondrial function.

Matrine, as a natural alkaloid isolated from the traditional herb medicine sophora flavescens, has been proved to possess excellent biological activities, including anticancer effects. Now, this research aims to assess the anticancer activities and the mechanism of matrine against esophageal cancer cells, we investigated the proliferative inhibition, apoptosis induction, as well as the underlying mechanism of matrine on esophageal cancer KYSE-150 cells. It was found that matrine could suppress KYSE-150 cell proliferation and significantly mediate cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent relation by increasing intracellular reactive oxygen species level and triggering mitochondrial membrane potential disruption. More precise mechanism studies demonstrated that matrine could up-regulate the expression of Bax proteins and down-regulate the expression of Bcl-2 proteins, as well as the activation about caspase-3, 8 and 9 in KYSE-150 cells. The morphological analysis of KYSE-150 cells exhibited that matrine could destroy the F-actin and nuclei structures and induce morphological damage with increased surface height distribution and roughness of cell membrane. These results not only demonstrated the potential anticancer activity mechanism of matrine at nanoscale, but also provide preliminary guidance for the treatment of esophageal cancer using matrine.