Artesunate (WR-256283) is part of the artemisinin group of drugs that treat malaria. It is a semi-synthetic derivative of artemisinin, Artesunate is soluble in water but has poor stability in aqueous solutions at neutral or acid pH.

ART could alter the biomechanical properties of the glioma cells to inhibit cell proliferation, migration and invasion [2]. The ART significantly suppresses the cell proliferation, induces the apoptosis and promoted cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase in SKM-1 cells. The mechanisms of ART anti-MDS is associated with the increase of intracellular calciumion concentration and ROS levels. In addition, the pro-apoptotic activity of ART may be involved in the regulation of BCL-2 /BAX ratio and the expressions of P-bad and survivin[3]. ART treatment demethylates CDH1, which, in turn recovers the E-cadherin activation in SKM-1 cells[1].

Artesunate is a medication used to treat malaria. Artesunate can induce radiosensitivity of HeLa cells in vivo using Xenograft model of nude mice[5]. Artesunate had a relatively high immunosuppressive activity with low toxicity, and could inhibit T lymphocyte proliferation induced by mitogen and alloantigen[6].

Growth inhibition assay: The SKM-1 cells (1×105/mL) are firstly seeded in 96-well plates. Artesunate is diluted in 0.1% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) producing 0, 12.5, 25, 50µg/mL concentrations and added to the SKM-1 cells with 100 µl per well. A negative control is treated with 0.1% DMSO. At 0, 24, 48, and 72 hours, same amount of MTT solution is added into each well and cultured for extra 4 hours. MTT treated cells are fixed with 150 µL DMSO for 30 min at room temperature and then determined with Evolution 201 and 220 UV-Vis spectrophotometer system at 540 nm. (Only for Reference)