Schisandrin B inhibits cell growth and induces cellular apoptosis and autophagy in mouse hepatocytes and macrophages: implications for its hepatotoxicity

Yi Zhang,1,2 Zhi-Wei Zhou,2 Hua Jin,2 Chengbin Hu,2 Zhi-Xu He,3 Zhi-Ling Yu,4 Kam-Ming Ko,5 Tianxin Yang,6 Xueji Zhang,7 Si-Yuan Pan,1 Shu-Feng Zhou2 1Department of Pharmacology, School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA; 3Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Research Center and Sino–US Joint Laboratory for Medical Sciences, Guiyang Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China; 4School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China; 5Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah and Salt Lake Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA; 7Research Center for Bioengineering and Sensing Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Abstract: A number of drugs and herbal compounds have been documented to cause ­hepatoxicity. Schisandrin B (Sch B) is an active dibenzocyclooctadiene isolated from Schisandrae fructus, with a wide array of pharmacological activities. However, the potential hepatotoxicity of Sch B is a major safety concern, and the underlying mechanism for Sch B-induced liver toxic effects is not fully elucidated. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the liver toxic effects and the molecular mechanisms of Sch B in mouse liver and macrophage cells. The results have shown that Sch B exhibits potent grow inhibitory, proapoptotic, and proautophagic effects in AML-12 and RAW 264.7 cells. Sch B markedly arrested cells in G1 phase in both cell lines, accompanied by the down-regulation of cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and cyclin D1 and up-regulation of p27 Kip1 and checkpoint kinase 1. Furthermore, Sch B markedly increased the ...