title: Initiation of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and autophagy of esophageal cancer cells by dihydroartemisinin.
abstract: Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) has recently been shown anti-tumor activity in various cancer cells. However, its effect on esophageal cancer remains unclear. In this study, for the first time, we demonstrated that DHA reduced viability of esophageal cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. The mechanism was at least partially due to DHA induced apoptosis by upregulating the expression of Bax, downregulating Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and Procaspase-3, and increasing caspase-9 activation, induced cell cycle arrest by downregulating cyclin E, CDK2 and CDK4. Furthermore, we firstly found that DHA induced autophagy in cancer cells. We concluded DHA might be a novel agent against esophageal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, 150 Haping St, Nangang District, Harbin 150081, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Xue
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Yan-Jing
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chun-Long
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.forename: Xiao-Li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Heng-Heng
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Ting-Ting
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wen-Jie
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: De-Xin
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Yu-Xian
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Bai
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D037621:Artemisinins; C039060:artenimol