Nitidine Chloride Inhibits Proliferation and Induces Mitochondrial-Mediated Apoptosis of Human Melanoma A375 and A2058 Cells In Vitro

Melanoma is a malignant tumor transforming from normal melanocytes, with strong invasion and low survival rate. Nitidine chloride (NC) is a natural benzophenidine alkaloid extracted from the roots of traditional Chinese medicine zanthoxylum nitidum. In recent years, many studies have found that NC may have strong anti-tumor activity. However, the efficacy of NC against melanoma has rarely been reported, and the potential molecular mechanism remains unknown. Our study explored the effects of NC on the proliferation and apoptosis of human melanoma A375 and A2058 cells. CCK-8 was utilized to detect the effects of different concentrations of NC on the proliferation of A375 and A2058 cells. Within a certain concentration and time range, NC can inhibit the viability of A375 and A2058 cells significantly in a time-dose-dependent manner. In addition, NC-induced apoptosis was confirmed by DAPI staining and flow cytometry analysis of Annexin V-FITC/PI. Moreover, we observed that the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 in the cytoplasm increases, activating Caspase-3/-9 and ultimately inducing apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway. Our study indicated that NC has anti-tumor properties against human melanoma cells through inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis. Therefore, the results provide new insights for future work on the utilization of NC in malignant melanoma treatment.