| 摘要 |
[Objectives] To study the effect of carcinoma cell line (HepG2) and mechanism of anti-tumor activity of cucurbitacin B (CuB) and cucurbitacin E (CuE) on HepG2 cells. [Methods] HepG2 cells were treated with various concentrations of CuB and CuE, and the proliferation, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, and performed RNA-seqtranscriptomics of these cells were evaluated after treatment. [Results] The results demonstrated that, in comparison to the control group, HepG2 cells treated with CuB and CuE displayed a synergistic effect on growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase, and apoptosis induction in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Western blotting analysis using protein extracts derived from HepG2 cells showed that CuB and CuE induced apoptosis by increasing the expression of endogenous levels of full-length caspase-3 (35 kDa) and the large fragment of cleaved caspase-3 (17 kDa). Moreover, transcriptomic results demonstrated that after treatment, the differentially expressed genes associated with pathways such as "cell cycle", "spliceosome", "metabolic pathways", and "carbon metabolism" were significantly up-/down-regulated. [Conclusions] These results demonstrate that the anti-tumor mechanisms of CuB and CuE are attributed to their interference in cell cycle and metabolism processes. Collectively, the treatment with CuB and CuE may serve as a promising therapeutic option for hepatocellular carcinoma. |
