Department of Applied Biotechnology, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Korea.
Department of Biological Sciences, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Korea.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jan 11;22(2):656. doi: 10.3390/ijms22020656.
Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes that can directly destroy cancer cells. When NK cells are activated, CD56 and CD107a markers are able to recognize cancer cells and release perforin and granzyme B proteins that induce apoptosis in the targeted cells. In this study, we focused on the role of phytoncides in activating NK cells and promoting anticancer effects. We tested the effects of several phytoncide compounds on NK-92mi cells and demonstrated that α-pinene treatment exhibited higher anticancer effects, as observed by the increased levels of perforin, granzyme B, CD56 and CD107a. Furthermore, α-pinene treatment in NK-92mi cells increased NK cell cytotoxicity in two different cell lines, and immunoblot assays revealed that the ERK/AKT pathway is involved in NK cell cytotoxicity in response to phytoncides. Furthermore, CT-26 colon cancer cells were allografted subcutaneously into BALB/c mice, and α-pinene treatment then inhibited allografted tumor growth. Our findings demonstrate that α-pinene activates NK cells and increases NK cell cytotoxicity, suggesting it is a potential compound for cancer immunotherapy.
自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞是能够直接破坏癌细胞的淋巴细胞。当 NK 细胞被激活时，CD56 和 CD107a 标志物能够识别癌细胞并释放穿孔素和颗粒酶 B 蛋白，从而诱导靶细胞凋亡。在这项研究中，我们专注于植物杀菌素激活 NK 细胞和促进抗癌作用的作用。我们测试了几种植物杀菌素化合物对 NK-92mi 细胞的影响，结果表明 α-蒎烯处理表现出更高的抗癌作用，如穿孔素、颗粒酶 B、CD56 和 CD107a 的水平增加所观察到的那样。此外，α-蒎烯处理可增加 NK-92mi 细胞对两种不同细胞系的 NK 细胞细胞毒性，免疫印迹分析表明 ERK/AKT 通路参与了植物杀菌素诱导的 NK 细胞细胞毒性。此外，将 CT-26 结肠癌细胞皮下移植到 BALB/c 小鼠中，然后用 α-蒎烯处理抑制同种异体肿瘤生长。我们的研究结果表明，α-蒎烯激活 NK 细胞并增加 NK 细胞的细胞毒性，表明它是癌症免疫治疗的一种潜在化合物。
