Deguelin induces the apoptosis of lung cancer cells through regulating a ROS driven Akt pathway.
BACKGROUND
Duguelin is a rotenoid extracted from plants and has potent antitumor effects in vitro and in vivo. However, the mechanism underlying the antitumor effect remains unclear. Our preliminary study showed that Deguelin is effective to stimulate the generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). In the current study, we evaluated the in vitro cytotoxicity of Deguelin against lung cancer cells and studied whether a ROS scavenger, N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), can reverse the inhibitory effect of Deguelin.


RESULTS
We showed that the dose-dependent apoptotic inducing effect of Deguelin could be partially reversed by the co-administration of NAC. Moreover, Deguelin reduced the phosphorylation of Akt protein and induced the apoptotic protein Caspase-3 in a dose-dependent manner. Co-treatment with NAC partially attenuated this effect and rescued some cells from apoptosis.


CONCLUSIONS
Deguelin induces the apoptosis of cancer cells through a ROS driven Akt pathway, which could translate into a promising therapeutic for lung cancer.
Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China ; Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300# Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029 People's Republic of China.
Huae
H
Xu
Department of Geriatric Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
Xiaolin
X
Li
Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300# Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029 People's Republic of China.
Wenqiu
W
Ding
Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300# Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029 People's Republic of China.
Xiaoning
X
Zeng
Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300# Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029 People's Republic of China.
Hui
H
Kong
Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300# Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029 People's Republic of China.
Hong
H
Wang
Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300# Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029 People's Republic of China.
Weiping
W
Xie
Akt; Apoptosis; Deguelin; Lung cancer; ROS