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Ginsenoside Rh2 (G‑Rh2) is a monomeric compound that extracted from ginseng and possesses anti‑cancer activities both in vitro and in vivo . Previously, we reported that G‑Rh2 induces apoptosis in HeLa cervical cancer cells and that the process was related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the upstream mechanisms of G‑Rh2, along with its cellular targets, remain to be elucidated. In the present study, the Cell Counting Kit‑8 assay, flow cytometry and Hoechst staining revealed that G‑Rh2 significantly inhibited cell viability and induced apoptosis of cervical cancer cells. However, G‑Rh2 was demonstrated to be non‑toxic to End1/e6e7 cells. JC‑1, rhodamine 123 staining, oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis capacity assays demonstrated that G‑Rh2 exposure caused an immediate decrease in mitochondrial transmembrane potential due to its inhibition of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, as well as glycolysis, both of which reduced cellular ATP production. Western blotting and electron transport chain (ETC) activity assays revealed that G‑Rh2 significantly inhibited the activity of ETC complexes I, III and V. Overexpression of ETC complex III partially significantly restored mitochondrial ROS and inhibited the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells induced by G‑Rh2. The predicted results of binding energy in molecular docking, confirmed that G‑Rh2 was highly likely to induce mitochondrial ROS production and promote cell apoptosis by targeting the ETC complex, especially for ETC complex III. Taken together, the present results revealed the potential anti‑cervical cancer activity of G‑Rh2 and provide direct evidence for the contribution of impaired ETC complex activity to cervical cancer cell death.

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A Meyer) is a widely used herbal remedy, however, the majority of studies have focused on the roots, with less known about the aerial regions of the plant. As the stems and leaves are the primary aerial tissues, the present study characterized their transcriptional profiles using Illumina next‑generation sequencing technology. The gene expression profiles and the functional genes of ginseng stems (GS) and leaves (GL) were analyzed during the leaf‑expansion period. cDNA libraries of the GS and GL of 5‑year‑old ginseng plants were separately constructed. In the GS library, 38,000,000 sequencing reads were produced. These reads were assembled into 99,809 unique sequences with a mean size of 572 bp, and 57,371 sequences were identified based on similarity searches against known proteins. The assembled sequences were annotated using Gene Ontology terms, Clusters of Orthologous Groups classifications and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. For GL, >118,000,000 sequencing reads were produced, which were assembled into 73,163 unique sequences, from which 50,523 sequences were identified. Additionally, several genes involved in the regulation of growth‑related, stress‑related, pathogenesis‑related, and chlorophyll metabolism‑associated proteins were found and expressed at high levels, with low expression levels of ginsenoside biosynthesis enzymes also found. The results of the present study provide a valuable useful sequence resource for ginseng in general, and specifically for further investigations of the functional genomics and molecular genetics of GS and GL during early growth.