Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy and mechanism of Fructus akebiae extraction (B14) inducing the apoptosis sensitization of colon cancer HCT116 cells to oxaliplatin (OXA), and provide the evidence for the prevention of side effect of OXA in clinical application.
METHODS The ethyl acetate extraction of Fructus akebiae were isolated by medium pressure column chromatography, and the active fraction B14 was obtained by anti-tumor experiment, further followed by research for its component identification. MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation inhibition of HCT116 by B14, OXA and their combination. CompuSyn software was used to evaluate the sensitization efficiency and determine the optimal dose of the combination. The apoptosis rate and cycle distribution of HCT116 cells were detected by flow cytometry. The expressions of apoptosis-related proteins were detected by Western blot.
RESULTS The main components of the active fraction B14 were identified as saponin B and α-hederin. 6 μg·mL-1 B14 combinated with 15 μg·mL-1 OXA significantly inhibited the proliferation and promoted the apoptosis of HCT116 cells (P < 0.001). The cell cycle of HCT116 was arrested at G2/M stage after the combination treatment (P < 0.001). Western blot results showed that, compared with OXA group, protein expressions of Bcl-2, Caspase-3 and the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax in combination group were significantly down-regulated (P < 0.01, P < 0.001), while Bax, Cyt-c, Cleaved caspase-3, the ratio of Cleaved caspase-3/Caspase-3 and p-p38 MAPK were significantly up-regulated (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION The extraction of Fructus akebiae can induce the apoptosis sensitization of HCT116 cells to OXA, which may be related to the regulation of p38 MAPK pathway. This study may provide the evidence for preventing the side effect of OXA in clinical application.