Bae Hyocheol, Song Gwonhwa, Lim Whasun
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.
Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Science and Technology, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Korea.
Pharmaceutics. 2020 May 28;12(6):488. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics12060488.
Phytosterols have physiological effects and are used as medicines or food supplements. Stigmasterol has shown anticancer effects against various cancers such as hepatoma, cholangiocarcinoma, gall bladder carcinoma, endometrial adenocarcinoma and skin, gastric, breast, prostate, and cervical cancer. However, there are no reports on stigmasterol's effects on ovarian cancer.
We investigated the effects of stigmasterol on proapoptotic signals, mitochondrial function, reactive oxygen species production, and the cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium levels in human ovarian cancer cells, to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of stigmasterol on ovarian cancer cells. We also conducted migration assay to confirm whether that stigmasterol inhibits ovarian cancer cell migration.
Stigmasterol inhibited development of human ovarian cancer cells. However, it induced cell apoptosis, ROS production, and calcium overload in ES2 and OV90 cells. In addition, stigmasterol stimulated cell death by activating the ER-mitochondrial axis. We confirmed that stigmasterol suppressed cell migration and angiogenesis genes in human ovarian cancer cells.
Our findings suggest that stigmasterol can be used as a new treatment for ovarian cancer.
植物甾醇具有生理作用，可作为药物或食品补充剂。豆甾醇已显示出对多种癌症具有抗癌作用，如肝癌、胆管癌、胆囊癌、子宫内膜腺癌以及皮肤癌、胃癌、乳腺癌、前列腺癌和宫颈癌。然而，关于豆甾醇对卵巢癌影响的报道尚无。
我们研究了豆甾醇对人卵巢癌细胞中促凋亡信号、线粒体功能、活性氧生成以及细胞质和线粒体钙水平的影响，以了解豆甾醇对卵巢癌细胞作用的潜在机制。我们还进行了迁移试验，以确认豆甾醇是否抑制卵巢癌细胞迁移。
豆甾醇抑制人卵巢癌细胞的生长。然而，它在ES2和OV90细胞中诱导细胞凋亡、活性氧生成和钙超载。此外，豆甾醇通过激活内质网 - 线粒体轴刺激细胞死亡。我们证实豆甾醇抑制人卵巢癌细胞中的细胞迁移和血管生成基因。
我们的研究结果表明，豆甾醇可作为卵巢癌的一种新的治疗方法。
