Abstract
BackgroundNasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has a high incidence rate in Southern China. Although there are conventional therapies, the side effects and toxicities are not always tolerable for patients. Recently, the tumoricidal effect of ginsenosides on different cancer cells has been studied. This study aims to investigate the anti-cancer effect of ginsenosides on NPC cells and their underlying mechanism.MethodsThe cytotoxicity of ginsenosides on NPC cell line HK-1 was measured by MTT assay. Apoptosis was detected by propidium iodide staining followed by flow cytometry. A xenograft tumor model was established by injecting nude mice with HK-1 cells. The activation of caspases and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) were evaluated by Western blot analysis. Nuclear translocation of AIF was also studied by immunofluorescence staining. Mitochondrial membrane potential was measured by JC-1 dye using flow cytometry.ResultsFour ginsenosides, 20 (S)-Rh2, compound K (CK), panaxadiol (PD) and protopanaxadiol (PPD), induced apoptotic cell death in HK-1 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. CK inhibited HK-1 xenograft tumor growth most extensively and depleted mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization and induced translocation of AIF from cytoplasm to nucleus in HK-1 cells. In addition, depletion of AIF by siRNA abolished CK-induced HK-1 cell death.ConclusionGinsenoside CK-induced apoptosis of HK-1 cells was mediated by the mitochondrial pathway and could significantly inhibit tumor growth in vivo.
Highlights
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has a high incidence rate in Southern China
Cell culture and drug treatments NPC cell line HK-1 was maintained in RPMI 1640 medium (Gibco, Grand Island, NY, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) (Gibco) and 1% penicillin and streptomycin (Gibco) at 37°C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO2
Cells were treated with indicated concentrations of ginsenosides for different times in medium supplemented with 1% FBS
Summary
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has a high incidence rate in Southern China. The tumoricidal effect of ginsenosides on different cancer cells has been studied. This study aims to investigate the anti-cancer effect of ginsenosides on NPC cells and their underlying mechanism. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a head and neck cancer with a distinctive ethnic and geographic distribution. In Southern China, NPC has a high incidence of about 25–30 per 100,000 persons per year, in contrast to the low incidence of less than 1 per 100,000 persons per year was recorded in Western countries [1]. The common treatment for NPC is radiotherapy. Besides the undesirable side effects of radiotherapy, the location of the tumor leads to complications after treatment. Chemotherapy is an alternative in treating NPC but resistance to conventional drugs is a challenge. New multiple regimens such as radiochemotherapy and combination treatments with adjuvant drugs are being studied [2]
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