Abstract
Natural products have become sources of developing new drugs for the treatment of cancer. To seek candidate compounds that inhibit the growth of liver cancer, components of Chloranthus serratus were tested. Here, we report that shizukaol D, a dimeric sesquiterpene from Chloranthus serratus, exerted a growth inhibition effect on liver cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We demonstrated that shizukaol D induced cells to undergo apoptosis. More importantly, shizukaol D attenuated Wnt signalling and reduced the expression of endogenous Wnt target genes, which resulted in decreased expression of β-catenin. Collectively, this study demonstrated that shizukaol D inhibited the growth of liver cancer cells by modulating Wnt pathway.
Highlights
Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide [1]
This study was initiated to test the cytotoxicity of natural products isolated from Chloranthus serratus in different types of cancer cells
The cells that were transfected with the mut-βcatenin plasmid exhibited slightly higher viability than those transfected with wt-β-catenin. These results suggest that Wnt pathway activation compensates for viability of liver cancer cells which were treated by shizukaol D
Summary
Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide [1]. In patients with liver cancer, surgical treatments offer a high rate of complete response and offer a potential for cure [2]. Alternative strategies for treating this aggressive tumour type are urgently needed
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