title: Anethole induces apoptotic cell death accompanied by reactive oxygen species production and DNA fragmentation in Aspergillus fumigatus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
abstract: trans-Anethole (anethole), a major component of anise oil, has a broad antimicrobial spectrum, and antimicrobial activity that is weaker than that of other antibiotics on the market. When combined with polygodial, nagilactone E, and n-dodecanol, anethole has been shown to possess significant synergistic antifungal activity against a budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and a human opportunistic pathogenic yeast, Candida albicans. However, the antifungal mechanism of anethole has not been completely determined. We found that anethole stimulated cell death of a human opportunistic pathogenic fungus, Aspergillus fumigatus, in addition to S. cerevisiae. The anethole-induced cell death was accompanied by reactive oxygen species production, metacaspase activation, and DNA fragmentation. Several mutants of S. cerevisiae, in which genes related to the apoptosis-initiating execution signals from mitochondria were deleted, were resistant to anethole. These results suggest that anethole-induced cell death could be explained by oxidative stress-dependent apoptosis via typical mitochondrial death cascades in fungi, including A. fumigatus and S. cerevisiae.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatsumi
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ogita
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000081248:Allylbenzene Derivatives; D000840:Anisoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D053938:DNA Fragmentation / Q000187:drug effects*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000081248:Allylbenzene Derivatives; D000840:Anisoles; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C006578:anethole
keywords: DNA fragmentation; anethole; apoptosis; fungicidal activity; reactive oxygen species