Abstract
Chalcones exhibit chemopreventive and antitumor effects. Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a naturally occurring anticancer agent that induces apoptosis in cancer cells and is not toxic to normal cells. We examined the cytotoxic and apoptotic effect of five chalcones in combination with TRAIL on prostate cancer cells. The cytotoxicity was evaluated by the MTT and LDH assays. The apoptosis was determined using flow cytometry with annexin V-FITC. Our study showed that all five tested chalcones: chalcone, licochalcone-A, isobavachalcone, xanthohumol, butein markedly augmented TRAIL-mediated apoptosis and cytotoxicity in prostate cancer cells and confirmed the significant role of chalcones in chemoprevention of prostate cancer.
Highlights
Chalcones (1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-ones)―one of the major classes of natural products with widespread distribution in spices, tea, beer, fruits and vegetables―have been recently subject of great interest for their pharmacological activities [1]
We showed for the first time that chalcones sensitize prostate cancer cells to Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induced apoptosis
Panduratin A, a chalcone isolated from Kaempferia pandurata, induces apoptosis and G2/M cell cycle arrest in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells
Summary
Chalcones (1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-ones)―one of the major classes of natural products with widespread distribution in spices, tea, beer, fruits and vegetables―have been recently subject of great interest for their pharmacological activities [1]. The in vitro studies showed that chalcones inhibit the proliferation of prostate cancer cells by inducing apoptosis and blocking cell cycle progression [13,14,15,16,17]. We and others have shown that TRAIL-resistant prostate cancer cells can be sensitized by chemotherapeutic agents, ionizing radiation or dietary polyphenols [21,22,23,24,25]. We showed for the first time that chalcones sensitize prostate cancer cells to TRAIL induced apoptosis. The TRAIL-mediated cytotoxic and apoptotic pathways may be a target of chemopreventive agents in prostate cancer cells and overcoming. TRAIL-resistance by chalcones may be one of the mechanisms responsible for their cancer preventive effects
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