The anti proliferative effect of palm oil γ-tocotrienol involves alterations in MEK-2 and ERK-2 protein expressions in CaSki cells

Abstract

Background: Vitamin E is a potent growth inhibitor of various cancer cell types in vitro and in vivo. The cell death mechanism is believed to be via cell cycle blockage, differentiation, and apoptosis. Objectives: To determine the possible involvement of protein expression of MEK-2 and ERK-2 in the cell death mechanism induced by palm oil ?-tocotrienol and ?-tocopherol in human cervical cancer cell line, CaSki cells. Methods: In this study, we tested the effect of ?-tocotrienol and ?-tocopherol on the proliferation and apoptosis in CaSki cells. Western blot analysis was used to determine the involvement of MEK-2 and ERK-2 in regulating the cell death mechanism. Results: Gamma-tocotrienol and ?-tocopherol efficiently inhibited the proliferation of CaSki cells by 85.2% to 90.8% (p Conclusion: The transient decreases in the protein expression of MEK-2 and ERK-2 suggested that the anti proliferative effect of ?-tocotrienol might involve alteration of the proliferative signaling cascade. Keywords: Alpha-tocopherol, anti-proliferation, cervical cancer cell line, MEK-2 and ERK-2 protein expressions, ?-tocotrienol