Objective      To determine the anti-proliferative effect of evodiamine (Evo) on colon cancer cells and investigate the possible underlying mechanism.       Methods      LoVo cells were treated with 0

0.5

1

2 and 4 μmol/L Evo

and then the anti-proliferation effect of Evo was assessed by crystal violet staining. Flow cytometry was used to determine the apoptosis of LoVo cells after the treatment of 0

0.5

1 and 2 μmol/L Evo. Western blotting was adopted to detect the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Caspase-3 in the cells treated with 0

0.5 and 1 μmol/L Evo. Hypoxia inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-α)-responsive firefly luciferase reporter was employed to measure the transcription activity of HIF-1α in 0

0.5

1 and 2 μmol/L Evo treated cells

and Western blotting was used to detect the expression of HIF-1α

Akt1/2

and p-Akt1/2 in the LoVo cells.       Results      Evo obviously inhibited the proliferation of LoVo cells

down-regulated the expression of PCNA and promoted the cell apoptosis. Luciferase reporter system indicated that Evo decreased the transcriptional activity of HIF-1α in a dose-dependent manner (Evo 0.5 μmol/L

P0.05; 1 or 2 μmol/L

P0.01). Western blotting showed that the expression levels of HIF-1α and p-Akt1/2 were reduced after Evo treatment.       Conclusion      Evo inhibits the proliferation and promotes the apoptosis in LoVo cells

which may be due to its down-regulating HIF-1α and inhibiting the transconduction of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.