RESUMO
The use of multiple drugs in cancer therapy increases the efficacy of the potential therapeutic effects. In this study, the authors investigated the adjuvant effects of an ethanol extract of solid-state cultivated Taiwanofungus camphoratus (TCEE) and amphotericin B (AmB) in the human cancer cell lines RPMI7951 and MG63. Taiwanofungus camphoratus is a well-known Chinese medicine in Taiwan, and AmB is a widely used antifungal agent. The authors demonstrated that TCEE pretreatment followed by AmB treatment effectively inhibited cell growth. The combination of sublethal doses of TCEE and AmB revealed a significant growth inhibitory effect in both cell lines. The combination of TCEE and AmB but not AmB alone induced phosphatidylserine externalization and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Cell cycle analyses revealed that combination of TCEE and AmB triggered G2/M arrest and significant apoptosis after 48 hours. These effects were greater than those achieved using TCEE or AmB alone. Furthermore, the authors demonstrated that the drugs increased the levels of p21(Cip1/Waf1) and pro-apoptotic protein Bax and reduced the level of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. Taken together, the results showed that the combination treatment of TCEE and AmB displays strong adjuvant effects, which are indicated by the inhibition of cell proliferation in 2 human cancer cell lines, RPMI7951 and MG63. These findings suggest possible therapeutic applications and alternative medicines using this drug combination.
Assuntos
Anfotericina B/farmacologia , Antifúngicos/farmacologia , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/farmacologia , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Produtos Biológicos/farmacologia , Mitocôndrias/efeitos dos fármacos , Polyporales/química , Anfotericina B/administração & dosagem , Antifúngicos/administração & dosagem , Proteínas Reguladoras de Apoptose/metabolismo , Produtos Biológicos/administração & dosagem , Pontos de Checagem do Ciclo Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Divisão Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Quimioterapia Adjuvante , Inibidor de Quinase Dependente de Ciclina p21/metabolismo , Fase G2/efeitos dos fármacos , Humanos , Potencial da Membrana Mitocondrial/efeitos dos fármacos , Mitocôndrias/metabolismo , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-bcl-2/metabolismo , Taiwan , Proteína X Associada a bcl-2/metabolismoRESUMO
Taiwanofungus camphoratus, a well-known Chinese medicine used in Taiwan, possesses several pharmacological functions, including anticancer effects. In the present study, we aimed to investigate a novel anticancer effect by pretreating cancer cells with an ethanolic extract of T. camphoratus (TCEE) followed by the administration of an antifungal agent amphotericin B (AmB). Both TCEE and AmB showed significant dose-dependent cytotoxicity in HT29 cells. Pretreatment with a nontoxic dose of TCEE enhanced the cytotoxicity of AmB. Furthermore, significant apoptotic cell death was found in cells treated with TCEE and AmB. A combination treatment with AmB plus TCEE resulted in a significant repression of tumor growth in HT29 xenografts. Collectively, our results indicated that combined treatment with AmB and TCEE effectively induced apoptosis and inhibited tumor growth. In the future, TCEE may serve as a potential complementary and alternative medicine to treat patients suffering from colorectal cancer.
