School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, PR China.
Oncol Rep. 2013 Jun;29(6):2205-10. doi: 10.3892/or.2013.2352. Epub 2013 Mar 20.
Activation of p53-independent pathways plays an important role in phytochemical-induced apoptosis and is considered to be a crucial factor in the invasion and metastasis of cancer. Previous studies have shown that combined effects of Stephania tetrandra with medicinal herbs exhibit beneficial effects in cancer patients. Tetrandrine, an active component of Stephania tetrandra has been reported to have anticancer properties in cancer cells. However, the mechanism(s) of action of tetrandrine in liver cancer have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the effects of tetrandrine in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. The results showed that tetrandrine inhibited HCC cell proliferation by suppression of cell cycle progression at the G2/M phase. Changes in the expression levels of Bax, Bcl, p53, survivin, PCNA, PARP and p21 were observed. In addition, tetrandrine increased caspase-3 expression and induced DNA fragmentation in Huh-7 cells. The results suggest that the anti-cancer effect of tetrandrine in Huh-7 cells may be mediated by p53-independent pathways.
激活 p53 非依赖性途径在植物化学诱导的细胞凋亡中起着重要作用，被认为是癌症侵袭和转移的关键因素。先前的研究表明，粉防己碱与草药联合使用对癌症患者有有益的效果。粉防己碱是粉防己的一种活性成分，已被报道在癌细胞中具有抗癌特性。然而，粉防己碱在肝癌中的作用机制尚未完全阐明。在本研究中，我们研究了粉防己碱对肝癌细胞的影响。结果表明，粉防己碱通过抑制细胞周期进展到 G2/M 期来抑制肝癌细胞的增殖。观察到 Bax、Bcl、p53、survivin、PCNA、PARP 和 p21 的表达水平发生变化。此外，粉防己碱增加了 caspase-3 的表达，并诱导 Huh-7 细胞中的 DNA 片段化。结果表明，粉防己碱在 Huh-7 细胞中的抗癌作用可能是通过 p53 非依赖性途径介导的。
