Effect of multi-strain probiotics on enhancing apoptosis in lung cancer cells A549

Apoptosis is an important pathway for regulating cell proliferation and the occurrence of cancers such as lung cancer. The release of Caspase-9 and activation of Caspase-3 influence the process of apoptosis in lung cancer cells, making these proteins markers of apoptosis in lung cancer cells. Multi-strain probiotics show increased benefits due to the combined effects of different strains. The probiotic metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), become important metabolites in lung immunity. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of multi-strain probiotics in increasing apoptosis through increasing Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 expression in A549 cultures.

The study was conducted in vitro using a cytotoxic assay to determine the IC50 value of multistrain probiotics, followed by an In Cell Western assay to assess Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 expression.

The cytotoxic assay IC₅₀ result of the multi-strain probiotic was 58.952 ppm. Based on the result of the cytotoxic assay, the multi-strain probiotic in this study is not toxic to A549 lung cancer cells. In the Cell Western assay results, the multi-strain probiotic at concentrations of 2xIC₅₀ and 0.5xIC₅₀ showed the highest Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 expression, respectively, compared to the control group.

Multi-strain probiotics can stimulate the expression of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 proteins in A549 lung cancer.