Brassinolide, a plant sterol from pollen of Brassica napus L., induces apoptosis in human prostate cancer PC-3 cells

Brassinolide is a plant sterol first isolated from pollen of rape (Brassica napus L.). The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of Brassinolide on androgen-independent human prostate Cancer PC-3 cell viability. Results showed that Brassinolide could induce a time and concentration-dependent cytotoxicity in PC-3 cells. The mode of cell death appeared to be predominately Apoptosis, as shown by flow-cytometric analysis, fluorescence and transmission electron microscopes. Caspase-3 activity was obviously increased after Brassinolide treatment. Western blot studies indicated that treatment with Brassinolide triggered a time-dependent decrease in the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. We suggest that Brassinolide could induce cytotoxicity in PC-3 cells by triggering Apoptosis. Brassinolide might therefore be a promising candidate for the treatment of prostate Cancer.