title: Anticancer activity of cryptotanshinone on acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells.
abstract: Cryptotanshinone, a well-known diterpene quinone from a widely used traditional Chinese herb named Salvia miltiorrhiza, has been reported for its therapeutical potentials on diverse activities. In this study, pharmacological effects of cryptotanshinone on acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells were investigated. IC50 values of 5.0 and 4.8 were obtained in CEM/ADR5000 and CCRF-CEM. Microarray-based mRNA expression revealed that cryptotanshinone regulated genes associated with cell cycle, DNA damage, reactive oxygen species (ROS), NFκB signaling and cellular movement. The involvement of these pathways in the mode of action of cryptotanshinone was subsequently validated by additional independent in vitro studies. Cryptotanshinone stimulated ROS generation and induced DNA damage. It arrested cells in G2/M phase of the cell cycle and induced apoptosis as measured by annexin V-FITC-conjugating fluorescence. The induction of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway by cryptotanshinone was proved by loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and increased cleavage of caspase 3/7, caspase 9 and poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP). DNA-binding motif analysis of the microarray-retrieved deregulated genes in the promoter region revealed NFκB as potential transcription factor involved in cryptotanshinone's mode of action. Molecular docking and Western blotting provided supportive evidence, suggesting that cryptotanshinone binds to IKK-β and inhibits the translocation of p65 from the cytosol to the nucleus. In addition, cryptotanshinone inhibited cellular movement as shown by a fibronectin-based cellular adhesion assay, indicating that this compound exerts anti-invasive features. In conclusion, cryptotanshinone exerts profound cytotoxicity, which is caused by multispecific modes of actions, including G2/M arrest, apoptosis and inhibition of cellular movement. The inhibitory activities of this compound may be explained by inhibition of NFκB, which orchestrates all these mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University, Staudinger Weg 5, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Ching-Fen
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Genome Analysis, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Klauck
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University, Staudinger Weg 5, 55128, Mainz, Germany. efferth@uni-mainz.de.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Efferth
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004249:DNA Damage; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D059565:G2 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000187:drug effects; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D053078:Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial / Q000187:drug effects; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D016328:NF-kappa B; D010616:Phenanthrenes; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C037886:cryptotanshinone
keywords: Cancer; Cryptotanshinone; Molecular docking; Multidrug resistance; Pharmacogenetics; Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Lamiaceae)