Abstract
This study aims to observe the effects of coix seed oil (CSO) on HT-29 cells and investigate its possible regulation mechanism of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Fatty acid analysis showed that coix seed oil mainly contains oleic acid (50.54%), linoleic acid (33.76%), palmitic acid (11.74%), and stearic acid (2.45%). Fourier transform infrared results found that the fatty acid functional groups present in the oil matched well with the vegetable oil band. The results from CCK-8 assays showed that CSO dose-dependently and time-dependently inhibited the viability of HT-29 cells in vitro. CSO inhibited cell viability, with IC50 values of 5.30 mg/mL for HT-29 obtained after 24 h treatment. Morphological changes were observed by apoptotic body/cell nucleus DNA (Hoechst 33258) staining using inverted and fluorescence microscopy. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis was used to evaluate the cell cycle and cell apoptosis. It showed that CSO induced cell apoptosis and cycle arrest in the G2 phase. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting revealed that CSO induced cell apoptosis by downregulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Additionally, CSO can cause apoptosis in cancer cells by activating caspase-3, up-regulating Bax, and down-regulating Bcl-2. In conclusion, the results revealed that CSO induced G2 arrest and apoptosis of HT-29 cells by regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.
Highlights
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world, and it is one of the most deadly cancers [1]
The peak at 1740 cm−1 is attributable to the C=O carbonyl stretching of lipid and fatty acid ester groups, which correspond to the total lipids in the oil
We characterized the fatty acid content and functional groups of coix seed oil, and the results showed that coix seed oil mainly contains oleic acid (50.54%), linoleic acid (33.76%), palmitic acid (11.74%), and stearic acid (2.45%), and the fatty acid functional groups matched well with the vegetable oil band
Summary
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world, and it is one of the most deadly cancers [1]. Coix seed oil exhibited anti-cancer activity in T24 cancer cell lines; this was attributed to palmitic acid and linoleic acid in an appropriate ratio to oleic acid [21]. Previous studies have shown that CSO can intercept the cell cycle in the G2 phase, reduce cell mitosis, and inhibit cancer cell proliferation. It is used in the treatment of primary malignancies, including lung, liver, gastric, and breast cancers, because of its anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects on many tumors in vitro and in vivo [22,23,24,25]
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