OBJECTIVE To investigate the influence of O-(4-ethoxyl-butyl)-berbamine (EBB) on the expression of cyclin B1 and cdc2-p34 in the human drug-resistant breast cancer MCF-7/ADR cell line.METHODS The MTT assay was used to assess the cytotoxicity of EBB. Different levels of EBB were added to different cell lines at series of time points solely or combined with doxorubicin (DOX)to detect the effect on the expression of cyclinB1 and cdc2-p34 by West blots, cdc2-p34 tyrosine phosphorylation was detected by immunoprecipitation. In addition, apoptosis and cytoplastic Ca2+concentrations were systematically examined by laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM).RESULTS EBB showed little inhibitory activity on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (ECV304), whereas EBB inhibited cell growth (IC50 range, 4.55～15.74 μmol/L) in a variety of sensitive and drug-resistance cell lines. EBB also down-regulated the expression of cyclin B1 and cdc2-p34 in a concentration and time dependent manner, which was an important reason for the G2/M phase arrest. EBB was shown to induce apoptosis of MCF-7/ADR cells while increasing the level of cytoplastic Ca2+.CONCLUSION The low cytotoxicity of EBB suggests it may be useful as a rational reversal agent. The effect of EBB on cell cycle arrest and related proteins, apoptosis, and cytoplastic Ca2+ concentration may be involved in reversing multidrug resistance.