Molecular mechanisms of anticancer activity of deoxyelephantopin in cancer cells

Deoxyelephantopin (DOE) is a natural bioactive sesquiterpene lactone from Elephantopus scaber, a traditionally relevant herb in Chinese and Indian medicine. It has shown promising anticancer effects against a broad spectrum of cancers.

We examined the effect of DOE on growth, autophagy, apoptosis, cell cycle progression, metastasis, and various molecular signaling pathways in cancer cells, and endeavored to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying its effect. The cytotoxicity of DOE was examined by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) and colony formation assays. The antimetastatic potential of DOE was identified by wound closure, as well as invasion and migration assays. The expression of mRNAs and proteins related to cytotoxicity in cancer cells induced by DOE was investigated using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry, and Western blot analysis.

DOE showed significant cytotoxicity and induced apoptosis in cancer cells. DOE promoted the autophagy of HCT 116 and K562 cells. DOE arrested cell cycle progression in the G2/M phase. DOE treatment caused activation of caspase-8, -9, -3 and -7, reactive oxygen species production, and cleavage of cleavage of poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), the markers of apoptosis. Moreover, apoptosis induction was associated with mitochondrial permeability and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Treatment of cancer cells with DOE inhibited mitogen-activated protein kinases, nuclear factor-kappa B, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K/Akt), and β-catenin signaling. Furthermore, treatment of DOE increased the expression of p53, phospho-Jun amino-terminal kinases (p-JNK), and p-p38 and decreased the expression of phospho-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT3) and phospho-mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) in cancer cells. DOE downregulated matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2) and MMP-9, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), and urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) mRNA levels in cancer cells.

These findings concluded that DOE may be useful as a chemotherapeutic agent against cancer.