Cratoxylum formosum (Jack) Dyer ssp. pruniflorum (Kurz) Gogel. (Hóng yá mù) extract induces apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells through caspase-dependent pathways

Apiyada Nonpunya,Sahapat Barusrux,Natthida Weerapreeyakul

doi:10.1186/1749-8546-9-12

Apiyada Nonpunya, Sahapat Barusrux + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1749-8546-9-12

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Journal: Chinese Medicine	Publication Date: Apr 7, 2014
Citations: 56	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Khon Kaen University

Abstract

BackgroundCratoxylum formosum (Jack) Dyer ssp. pruniflorum (Kurz) Gogel. (Hóng yá mù) (CF) has been used for treatment of fever, cough, and peptic ulcer. Previously, a 50% ethanol-water extract from twigs of CF was shown highly selective in cytotoxicity against cancer cells. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the apoptosis-inducing effect of CF.MethodsThe cytotoxicity of CF was evaluated in the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) HepG2 cell line in comparison with a non-cancerous African green monkey kidney epithelial cell line (Vero) by a neutral red assay. The apoptosis induction mechanisms were investigated through nuclear morphological changes, DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial membrane potential alterations, and caspase enzyme activities.ResultsCF selectively induced HepG2 cell death compared with non-cancerous Vero cells. A 1.5-fold higher apoptotic effect compared with melphalan was induced by 120 μg/mL of the 50% ethanol-water extract of CF. The apoptotic cell death in HepG2 cells occurred via extrinsic and intrinsic caspase-dependent pathways in dose- and time-dependent manners by significantly increasing the activities of caspase 3/7, 8, and 9, decreasing the mitochondrial membrane potential, and causing apoptotic body formation and DNA fragmentation.ConclusionsCF extract induced a caspase-dependent apoptosis in HepG2 cells.

Highlights

Cratoxylum formosum (Jack) Dyer ssp. pruniflorum (Kurz) Gogel. (Hóng yá mù) (CF) has been used for treatment of fever, cough, and peptic ulcer
Apoptotic cancer cells are characterized by morphological changes, including chromatin condensation, membrane blebbing, and apoptotic body formation, which are related to DNA fragmentation observed as a ladder on gel electrophoresis [2]
CF extract induced human Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell death The cytotoxicity (Table 1) and growth inhibition (Figure 1) results of the crude CF extract compared to melphalan showed cytotoxicity with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50 ± standard deviation (SD)) of 55.9 ± 10.6 μg/mL for HepG2 cells while no effect on normal Vero cells at concentrations up to 500 μg/mL

Summary

Introduction

Cratoxylum formosum (Jack) Dyer ssp. pruniflorum (Kurz) Gogel. (Hóng yá mù) (CF) has been used for treatment of fever, cough, and peptic ulcer. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the apoptosis-inducing effect of CF. The treatment options for HCC patients, such as surgical resection and liver transplantation [2], are only appropriate for the early stages of tumor development. A second primary site can be caused by a malignant clone even if the first cancer site has been diagnosed and resected [1]. Some anti-cancer agents induced apoptosis of cancer cells [3]. The caspase enzymes are proteases playing an important role in the classification of apoptosis. Several studies have screened potential compounds that can trigger apoptosis via measurement of caspase activity [5,6,7]

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