Department of Life Science and Biochemical Engineering, Sun Moon University, Asan, South Chungcheong 31460, Republic of Korea.
Department of Aquatic Life and Medical Sciences, Sun Moon University, Asan, South Chungcheong 31460, Republic of Korea.
Mol Med Rep. 2021 Jan;23(1). doi: 10.3892/mmr.2020.11727. Epub 2020 Nov 25.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. However, chemotherapies for this cancer often cause many side effects and chemoresistance. Markovich peel (CECU) has been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases in East Asia. Recently, the anticancer activities and mechanisms of action of CECU extract have been reported in a number of different cancer cell types, but no study has evaluated the therapeutic effect of this natural product on cervical cancer cells. In the current study, the anticancer activity and the underlying molecular mechanism of the chloroform extract of CECU was investigated on HeLa human cervical cancer cells. The results showed that CECU effectively inhibited the proliferation and migration of HeLa cells. Treatment of cells with CECU led to cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and activation of extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways. Furthermore, the proliferation inhibitory effect of CECU was due to the inactivation of AKT and ERK signaling, upregulation of p53 and p21, and downregulation of cyclin B1 and cyclin D1, but not reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Furthermore, CECU inhibited the stem‑like features of HeLa cells by downregulating key cancer stemness biomarkers. Therefore, CECU may be an effective complementary and alternative medicine for the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.
宫颈癌是全球女性中第二大常见的癌症。然而，这种癌症的化疗常常会引起许多副作用和化疗耐药性。CECU 已被用作东亚治疗各种疾病的传统药物。最近，CECU 提取物的抗癌活性和作用机制已在许多不同的癌细胞类型中得到报道，但尚无研究评估该天然产物对宫颈癌细胞的治疗效果。在本研究中，研究了 CECU 的氯仿提取物对人宫颈癌细胞 HeLa 的抗癌活性及其潜在的分子机制。结果表明，CECU 能有效抑制 HeLa 细胞的增殖和迁移。用 CECU 处理细胞会导致细胞周期停滞在 G2/M 期，并激活外源性和内源性凋亡途径。此外，CECU 的增殖抑制作用是由于 AKT 和 ERK 信号的失活、p53 和 p21 的上调以及细胞周期蛋白 B1 和 D1 的下调，而不是活性氧（ROS）的产生。此外，CECU 通过下调关键的癌症干性生物标志物来抑制 HeLa 细胞的干性特征。因此，CECU 可能是预防和治疗宫颈癌的有效补充和替代药物。
