Herbal extract of Artemisia maritima induces selective anti-tumor effects in three human lung carcinoma cells (H1299, NCI-H1437, PC-14) through activating apoptosis-related proteins, G2/M cell cycle arrest and suppression of cell migration.

PURPOSE

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, accounting for 85% of all diagnosed lung cancers and resulting in over 100,000 deaths per year. The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the antiproliferative effects of ethanolic extract of Artemisia maritima in three human lung cancer cell lines along with studying the effects of the herbal extract on cellular apoptosis, G2/M cell cycle arrest and cell migration.

METHODS

The CCK-8 assay was used to determine cell viability. Apoptosis was detected by using acridine orange (AO)/ethidium bromide (EB) staining, annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) assay and western blot. The cell migration was determined by wound healing assay while the effects on cell cycle were evaluated by flow cytometry.

RESULTS

The results showed that herbal extract of Artemisia maritima decreased the viability of all three cell lines H1299, NCI-H1437, PC-14 dose-dependently with maximum effect on NCI-H1437 cell line. The antiproliferative effects were due to the activation of mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathway as seen by fluorescence microscopy which showed chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation. This was also associated with increase in Bax and decrease in Bcl-2 levels. Artemisia maritima extract treatment also led to G2/M phase cell cycle arrest along with strong inhibition of cell migration.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, the results of the current study clearly indicate that Artemisia maritima extract exhibits antiproliferative effects in Nonsmall cell lung cancer cells by triggering apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and inhibition of cell migration.