Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, PR China.
Int J Mol Med. 2012 Apr;29(4):607-12. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2012.884. Epub 2012 Jan 11.
Alpinetin is a novel plant flavonoid derived from Alpinia katsumadai Hayata, found to possess strong anticancer effects. However, the antitumor effect of alpinetin on pancreatic cancer cells and the detailed mechanism remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate alpinetin's beneficial effect on pancreatic cancer and the possible molecular mechanism involved. Pancreatic cancer cell lines were treated with alpinetin at various doses and for different times, and the effect of alpinetin on cell growth inhibition, apoptosis and the cell cycle was determined. The expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, XIAP and Bax, the activity of caspases and the levels of cytochrome c released were measured. The results showed that alpinetin inhibited the viability of three pancreatic cancer cell lines and induced apoptosis of BxPC-3 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. This was accompanied by regulation of the expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bax and XIAP. Furthermore, alpinetin treatment led to the release of cytochrome c and activation of caspases-3, -8 and -9 proteins. Taken together, our studies indicate that alpinetin inhibited the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells possibly through the regulation of the Bcl-2 family and XIAP expression, release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspases. Alpinetin may serve as a potential agent for the development of pancreatic cancer cell therapies.
山姜素是一种从益智中提取的新型植物类黄酮，具有较强的抗癌作用。然而，山姜素对胰腺癌细胞的抗肿瘤作用及其详细机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨山姜素对胰腺癌细胞的有益作用及其可能涉及的分子机制。用不同剂量和不同时间的山姜素处理胰腺癌细胞系，测定山姜素对细胞生长抑制、细胞凋亡和细胞周期的影响。测定 Bcl-2、Bcl-xL、XIAP 和 Bax 的表达、半胱天冬酶的活性以及细胞色素 c 的释放水平。结果表明，山姜素抑制三种胰腺癌细胞系的活力，并呈剂量和时间依赖性诱导 BxPC-3 细胞凋亡。这伴随着 Bcl-2、Bcl-xL、Bax 和 XIAP 的表达调节。此外，山姜素处理导致细胞色素 c 的释放和半胱天冬酶-3、-8 和 -9 蛋白的激活。综上所述，我们的研究表明，山姜素可能通过调节 Bcl-2 家族和 XIAP 的表达、细胞色素 c 的释放以及半胱天冬酶的激活来抑制胰腺癌细胞的增殖。山姜素可能成为开发胰腺癌细胞治疗的潜在药物。
