Veratramine suppresses human HepG2 liver cancer cell growth in  vitro and in vivo by inducing autophagic cell death.

Veratramine suppresses human HepG2 liver cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo by inducing autophagic cell death. Oncol Rep. 2020 May 25;: Authors: Yin L, Xia Y, Xu P, Zheng W, Gao Y, Xie F, Ji Z Abstract Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer‑related deaths. Traditional therapeutic strategies, such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy and interventional therapy, are inefficient and are accompanied by severe side effects for patients with advanced liver cancer. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a safer more effective drug to treat liver cancer. Veratramine, a known natural steroidal alkaloid derived from plants of the lily family, exerts anticancer activity in vitro. However, the underlying mechanism and whether it has an antitumor effect in vivo remain unknown. In the present study, the data revealed that veratramine significantly inhibited HepG2 cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. Moreover, it was revealed that veratramine induced autophagy‑mediated apoptosis by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, which partly explained the underlying mechanism behind its antitumor activity. Notably, the results of in vivo experiments also revealed that veratramine treatment (2 mg/kg, 3 times a week for 4 weeks) significantly inhibited subcutaneous tumor growth of liver cancer cells, with a low systemic toxicity. Collectively, the results of the present study indicated that veratramine efficient...
Source: Oncology Reports - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncol Rep Source Type: research