Li Yang, Li Dalei, Yuan Shengguang, Wang Zhenran, Tang Fang, Nie Rongrong, Weng Jun, Ma Lina, Tang Bo
Department of Medical Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin 541001;
Oncol Lett. 2013 Mar;5(3):1005-1009. doi: 10.3892/ol.2012.1084. Epub 2012 Dec 19.
Embelin is a small molecular inhibitor extracted from Myrsinaceae plants that specifically inhibits XIAP, affecting the proliferation and apoptosis of various types of tumor cells. In our previous studies, we have demonstrated that embelin is able to induce the apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. However, its mechanism of action is not yet clear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the involvement of the mitochondrial pathway in embelin-induced apoptosis and the effect of embelin on the cell cycle. Different doses of embelin were added to MCF-7 breast cancer cells and it was found that embelin was able to induce apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that embelin caused changes in the MCF-7 cell mitochondrial membrane potential and blocked the cell cycle of MCF-7 cells in the G2/M phase. Moreover, embelin was demonstrated to promote mitochondrial release of cytochrome C via regulation of Bax and Bcl-2, resulting in the activation of caspase-3 and -9, while no significant changes in the level of caspase-8 were observed. The results have demonstrated that embelin-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells involves the mitochondrial pathway.
紫铆因是一种从紫金牛科植物中提取的小分子抑制剂，它能特异性抑制X连锁凋亡抑制蛋白（XIAP），影响各类肿瘤细胞的增殖和凋亡。在我们之前的研究中，我们已经证明紫铆因能够以剂量依赖的方式诱导MCF-7乳腺癌细胞凋亡。然而，其作用机制尚不清楚。本研究的目的是探讨线粒体途径在紫铆因诱导的凋亡中的作用以及紫铆因对细胞周期的影响。将不同剂量的紫铆因添加到MCF-7乳腺癌细胞中，发现紫铆因能够以剂量和时间依赖的方式诱导MCF-7乳腺癌细胞凋亡。流式细胞术分析显示，紫铆因导致MCF-7细胞线粒体膜电位发生变化，并将MCF-7细胞的细胞周期阻滞在G2/M期。此外，通过调节Bax和Bcl-2，紫铆因被证明能促进细胞色素C从线粒体释放，从而导致caspase-3和caspase-9的激活，而未观察到caspase-8水平有显著变化。结果表明，紫铆因诱导MCF-7乳腺癌细胞凋亡涉及线粒体途径。
