title: Capsaicin induces apoptosis and terminal differentiation in human glioma A172 cells.
abstract: Capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide), the major pungent ingredient of red pepper, has been reported to possess anti-carcinogenic and anti-mutagenic activities. In this study, the effects of capsaicin on human glioblastoma A172 cells were investigated. Treatment of A172 cells with capsaicin inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis through down-regulation of Bcl-2 and activation of caspase-3. Interestingly, synergistic induction of morphological alternation was observed when A172 cells were treated with capsaicin. A double immunostaining analysis indicated that capsaicin stimulated terminal differentiation predominantly to astrocyte-like cells. Moreover, capsaicin increased the transcription levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neuronal microtubule-associated protein 2ab (MAP2ab). These results demonstrated that capsaicin inhibits A172 cell growth through apoptosis and terminal differentiation. Consequently, this research may provide further support for capsaicin-based anti-tumor therapies and consideration should be given to developing capsaicin for use in chemotherapy for malignant human glioblastoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Kosin Medical Collage, Kosin University, Amnamdong, Seo-Gu, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Gi
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: Mi-Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D053148:Caspase 3; D002211:Capsaicin