Abstract: Objective: To determine the effect of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) on proliferation and apoptosis of human skin squamous cell carcinoma A431 cells. Methods: A431 cells were cultured in vitro and treated with different concentrations of GSP (5, 10, 20, 40, 80 μg/mL). The cell viability and proliferation were detected by MTT assay and colony formation assay respectively. The protein level of PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signal transduction pathway was detected by Western blot. Results: As the increasing of GSP concentration, the cell viability and cell clone level of A431 decreased gradually, apoptosis rate increased. The protein level of p-PI3K, p-Akt, p-GSK-3β decreased after treated with GSP. Conclusion: GSP can induced apoptosis and inhabited proliferation of A431 cells, which may be related with the activation of PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway.

Key words: grape seed proanthocyanidins, human skin squamous cell carcinoma, proliferation, apoptosis