Abstract
BackgroundLitchi seeds possess rich amounts of phenolics and have been shown to inhibit proliferation of several types of cancer cells. However, the suppression of EGFR signaling in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by litchi seed extract (LCSE) has not been fully understood.MethodsIn this study, the effects of LCSE on EGFR signaling, cell proliferation, the cell cycle and apoptosis in A549 adenocarcinoma cells and NCI- H661 large-cell carcinoma cells were examined.ResultsThe results demonstrated that LCSE potently reduced the number of cancer cells and induced growth inhibition, cell-cycle arrest in the G1 or G2/M phase, and apoptotic death in the cellular experiment. Only low cytotoxicity effect was noted in normal lung MRC-5 cells. LCSE also suppressed cyclins and Bcl-2 and elevated Kip1/p27, Bax and caspase 8, 9 and 3 activities, which are closely associated with the downregulation of EGFR and its downstream Akt and Erk-1/-2 signaling.ConclusionThe results implied that LCSE suppressed EGFR signaling and inhibited NSCLC cell growth. This study provided in vitro evidence that LCSE could serve as a potential agent for the adjuvant treatment of NSCLC.
Highlights
Litchi seeds possess rich amounts of phenolics and have been shown to inhibit proliferation of several types of cancer cells
The inhibitory effect of litchi seed extract (LCSE) on the growth of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines The proliferation and colony-forming activities of A549 and NCI-H661 cells were both inhibited by LSCE treatment
LCSE exhibited approximately 60% growth inhibition with dosage of 100 μg/mL LCSE, while the survival rate decreased to 20% in A549 and 30% in NCI-H661 cells after treatment with 150 μg/mL of LCSE
Summary
Litchi seeds possess rich amounts of phenolics and have been shown to inhibit proliferation of several types of cancer cells. The suppression of EGFR signaling in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by litchi seed extract (LCSE) has not been fully understood. Recent advancements in treatment strategies using tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) to treat NSCLC have been developed to prolong patient survival by 3-fold as compared to traditional chemotherapies, drug resistance still occurs in a proportion of patients. A variety of proanthocyanidins, flavonoid glycosides and polysaccharides were identified from litchi seeds [7,8,9]. Some of these compounds appeared to exhibit anti-neoplastic activities in breast cancer, sarcoma, nasopharynx cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines
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