title: Ethanolic Extracts of Pluchea indica Induce Apoptosis and Antiproliferation Effects in Human Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cells.
abstract: Pluchea indica is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of lumbago, ulcer, tuberculosis and inflammation. The anti-cancer activities and the underlying molecular mechanisms of the ethanolic extracts of P. indica root (PIRE) were characterized in the present study. PIRE strongly inhibited the viability of the human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells (NPC-TW 01 and NPC-TW 04) in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Migration of cancer cells was also suppressed by PIRE. In addition, PIRE significantly increased the occurrence of the cells in sub-G1 phase and the extent of DNA fragmentation in a dose-dependent manner, which indicates that PIRE significantly increased apoptosis in NPC cells. The apoptotic process triggered by PIRE involved up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax protein and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein, consequently increasing the ratios of Bax/Bcl-2 protein levels. Moreover, the p53 protein was up-regulated by PIRE in a concentration-dependent manner. Therefore, PIRE could induce the apoptosis-signaling pathway in NPC cells by activation of p53 and by regulation of apoptosis-related proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan. joe7day@yahoo.com.tw.|Department of Nursing, Tzu Hui Institute of Technology, Ping-Tung County 92641, Taiwan. joe7day@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Chiu-Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA. jcho23@u.rochester.edu.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan. m992010002@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ya-Zhe
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan. jmb@kmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yuan-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chung Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan. cychien3965@adm.cgmh.org.tw.
authors.forename: Chih-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chung Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan. cfhwang.tw@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chung-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan. m835016@cc.kmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yi-Ren
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan. cntseng.tw@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chao-Neng
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan. clcho@mail.nsysu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chung-Lung
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000737:chemistry; D002277:Carcinoma; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Pluchea indica; apoptosis; nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); p53