Abstract
Objective: To investigate the anti-tumor effects and underlying mechanism of boswellic acid acetate (BC-4), an isomeric compound isolated from the resin of the plant Boswellia carterii Birdw. Methods: Neuroblastoma cell lines U87 and A172 were used in the study. Cells were divided into four groups. One group was used as the control. The other three groups were treated with 10 μM BC-4, 20 μM BC-4 and 40 μM BC-4 for 48 h, respectively. Cell proliferation was checked by CCK-8 kit. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis and cell cycle stage. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was analyzed by JC-1 staining. Expression of BCL-2 and BAX was examined using western blotting. Results: Cell proliferation was inhibited by BC-4 in a dose dependent manner. The rate of apoptosis of cells in drug treated groups was much higher than of that in the control group. Cell cycle was arrested by BC-4 in drug treated groups. MMP was much lower in cells from drug treated groups compared to those from the control group. BAX expression was increased while BCL-2 expression was reduced in cells of BC-4 treated group compared to the control group. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that BC-4 has strong inhibitory effects on neuroblastoma cell lines and these effects were caused by a decrease in BCL-2 expression and an increase in BAX expression.
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