Alyssin and Iberin in Cruciferous Vegetables Exert Anticancer Activity in HepG2 by Increasing Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species and Tubulin Depolymerization

To determine the chemopreventive potential of alyssin and iberin, the in vitro anticancer activities and molecular targets of isothiocyanates (ITCs) were measured and compared to sulforaphane in hepatocellular carcinoma cell HepG2. The SR-FTIR spectra observed a similar pattern vis-à-vis the biomolecular alteration amongst the ITCs-treated cells suggesting a similar mode of action. All of the ITCs in this study cause cancer cell death through both apoptosis and necrosis in concentration dependent manner (20–80 μM). We found no interactions of any of the ITCs studied with DNA. Notwithstanding, all of the ITCs studied increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and suppressed tubulin polymerization, which led to cell-cycle arrest in the S and G₂/M phase. Alyssin possessed the most potent anticancer ability; possibly due to its ability to increase intracellular ROS rather than tubulin depolymerization. Nevertheless, the structural influence of alkyl chain length on anticancer capabilities of ITCs remains inconclusive. The results of this study indicate an optional, potent ITC (viz., alyssin) because of its underlying mechanisms against hepatic cancer. As a consequence, further selection and development of effective chemotherapeutic ITCs is recommended.

Research progress of microtubule inhibitor-induced tumor cell mitotic catastrophe / 中国药理学通报

Microtubule inhibitor has been a hot area of anticancer drugs research.Microtubule inhibitor exert an anti-tumor effect by promoting or inhibiting the microtubule aggregation to break the dynamic balance of microtubule,hindering the spindle forma-tion of tumor cells,and then blocking the process of cell divi-sion.Mitotic catastrophe is a cell death phenomenon that is caused by abnormal cell division and damage of spindle structure in cell mitosis phase.In recent years more and more attention has been paid to mitotic catastrophe cell death because it has been confirmed clinically that microtubule inhibitors can induce mitotic catastrophe death of tumor cells.This paper reviews the latest research progress of microtubule inhibitors,and discusses the molecular mechanisms of mitotic catastrophe cell death tumor cells induced by microtubule inhibitors.