Thymoquinone Augments Methotrexate-Induced Apoptosis on Osteosarcoma Cells

Osteosarcoma (OS) as the most frequent primary bone malignancy in children and adolescents has a short survival rate in advanced stages. Alternative herbal medicines with fewer side effects or the potency to protect common therapy's side effects can be helpful in combinational therapies. Herein, we aim to explore the effects of Thymoquinone (TQ) combined with Methotrexate (MTX) on Saos-2 cells apoptosis.

The effects of TQ and MTX alone or in combination on Saos-2 cell viability were measured by MTT assay. Real-time PCR was applied for the measurement of Bax, BCL-2, and caspase-9 mRNA expression. Apoptosis evaluation was conducted by flow cytometry.

TQ improves the cytotoxic effects of MTX on Saos-2 cells proliferation at lower doses. Indeed, the IC50 of MTX decreased from 26 μM to 15 μM when it combined with TQ. TQ and MTX can induce the expression level of pro-apoptotic factors, Bax and caspase-9 while inhibiting anti-apoptotic protein BCL-2. Moreover, the combination of TQ and MTX potentiates apoptosis to 73%, compared to either TQ (48%) or MTX (53%) treated cells.

The co-treatment of TQ and MTX is associated with the up-regulation of apoptotic factors and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic factors, conducting apoptosis aggravation and OS cell death.