Anti-cancer effect of rubropunctatin against human gastric carcinoma cells BGC-823.
The Monascus pigment, rubropunctatin, was extracted and purified from red mold rice (RMR) and its cytotoxic activities against human gastric adenocarcinoma BGC-823 cells were studied both in vitro and in vivo. Rubropunctatin inhibited the proliferation of BGC-823 cells with an inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 12.57 μM, while it exhibited no significant toxicity to normal gastric epithelial cell GES-1 at the same concentration. Treatment of BGC-823 cells with rubropunctatin resulted in a dose- and time-dependent apoptosis, as validated by the increase in the percentage of cells in sub-G1 phase and phosphotidylserine externalization. The in vivo experimental data demonstrated that rubropunctatin could offer similar therapeutic benefits in comparison with the same dose of taxol. After five times of intravenous injection, tumor weight in BGC-823-bearing nude mice reduced 23.5% at the dose of 8 mg/kg and 37.7% at the dose of 32 mg/kg, respectively. The expressions of 30 genes related to induction of apoptosis were found up-regulated significantly. The two most expressed genes were tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and DNA-damage inducible transcript 3. TNF was considered as a major mediator of apoptosis induced by rubropunctatin. This is the first report describing the anti-proliferative effect of rubropunctatin and its apoptosis mechanism on BGC-823 cells. Rubropunctatin has potential to be developed as a new natural anti-cancer agent.
Zheng
Yunquan
Y
Institute of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Engineering, Fuzhou University, China.
Xin
Yanwen
Y
Shi
Xianai
X
Guo
Yanghao
Y
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001578:Benzopyrans / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D032741:Monascus / Q000737:chemistry*; D010718:Phosphatidylserines / Q000378:metabolism; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001572:Benzofurans; D001578:Benzopyrans; D010718:Phosphatidylserines; C556146:rubropunctatin