title: A potent apoptosis-inducing activity of a sesquiterpene lactone, arucanolide, in HL60 cells: a crucial role of apoptosis-inducing factor.
abstract: Six main sesquiterpene lactones (germacranolides) from Calea urticifolia were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines HL60 and SW480 cells. Among them, arucanolide and parthenolide displayed marked cytotoxicity against both cell lines. Arucanolide exhibited a low IC(50) in HL60 cells. The cytotoxic activity of arucanolide was observed at lower concentrations compared to that of parthenolide, which has been reported to be a typical and simple germacranolide. The activity was found to be mainly due to apoptosis that was assessed by morphological findings, DNA ladder formation (24 - 36 h), and flow cytometric analysis in HL60 cells. Western blotting and an apoptosis inhibition assay using caspase inhibitors did not demonstrate the activation of any caspases tested. However, the mitochondrial membrane potential of HL60 cells was lost after 24-h treatment with arucanolide, and concurrently apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) released from mitochondria was detected by Western blot analysis. The inactivation of nuclear factor-kappaB, which has been commonly shown in parthenolide-induced apoptosis, did not occur in arucanolide-induced apoptosis. Taken together, the findings presented here indicate that arucanolide induced marked apoptosis in HL60 cells mainly by dissipating mitochondrial membrane potential, which would trigger AIF-induced apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Gifu International Institute of Biotechnology, Japan. nakagawa@giib.or.jp
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Munekazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iinuma
authors.forename: Nobuyasu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Kong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naoi
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Akao
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000633:toxicity*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051033:Apoptosis Inducing Factor; D019659:Asteraceae; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005420:Flavoproteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006131:Growth Inhibitors / Q000633:toxicity*; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006801:Humans; D007783:Lactones / Q000633:toxicity*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000633:toxicity; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000633:toxicity; D045788:Sesquiterpenes, Germacrane / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: C494829:AIFM1 protein, human; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D051033:Apoptosis Inducing Factor; D005420:Flavoproteins; D006131:Growth Inhibitors; D007783:Lactones; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; D045788:Sesquiterpenes, Germacrane; C503222:arucanolide; C432449:germacranolide; C002669:parthenolide