Discrepancy between the effects of morronside on apoptosis in human embryonic lung fibroblast cells and lung cancer A549 cells.

DONG-QING XU,XIAO-YI YU,MING-YAN WANG,DE-GUO XU,JIAN-PING CHEN,XU ZHANG,BAO-CHANG CAI,FENG-MING ZHAO

doi:10.3892/ol.2014.1850

Abstract

Morroniside is a water-soluble compound extracted from the fruit of Cornus officinalis and is used to protect lung activity against aging. In the present study, the manner in which morroniside regulates normal lung and cancer cells was examined. The human embryonic lung fibroblast (HELF) cell line and lung cancer A549 cell line, and their responses to morroniside treatment, were examined. Results showed that morroniside reverses the apoptotic effect of H2O2 on HELF cell growth, protecting cell proliferation and normal cell morphology and inhibiting apoptosis. However, these effects were not present in A549 cells. Western blotting showed that morroniside also markedly downregulated retinoblastoma protein in HELF cells. These results suggest that morroniside treatment exhibits different effects on apoptosis in HELF and A549 cells, making it a viable compound for decreasing the side effects of anticancer medicines in normal cells.

Highlights

The fruit of Cornus officinalis is effective for treating liver and lung disease in traditional Chinese medicine [1]
Morroniside reverses inhibition of cell growth in human embryonic lung fibroblasts cells induced by H2O2
In order to understand whether morroniside regulates the proliferation of lung cells, the growth of human embryonic lung fibroblast (HELF) cells treated with morroniside (98% purity) was examined

Summary

Introduction

The fruit of Cornus officinalis is effective for treating liver and lung disease in traditional Chinese medicine [1]. The pharmacology and phytochemistry of the fruit of Cornus officinalis have been extensively investigated. Clinical studies have demonstrated that this fruit has anticancer and antioxidative roles [2,3]. Based on various clinical roles, several effective water‐soluble components of the fruit of Cornus officinalis have been identified. Gallic acid has antitumor properties [4] and oleanolic acid has antiulcer properties and markedly reduces blood pressure and blood glucose The protection of cell growth by morroniside is hypothesized to be involved in regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis

Methods

Results

Conclusion