Aloe-emodin induces autophagy and apoptotic cell death in non-small cell lung cancer cells via Akt/mTOR and MAPK signaling.

In this study, the bioassay results demonstrated that AE reduced the viability of the non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549 and NCI-H1299 in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Moreover, AE induced caspase-dependent apoptosis and autophagy. AE induced autophagy through activation of MAPK signaling and inhibition of the Akt/mTOR pathway. We also found that AE-induced autophagy was attenuated by the reactive oxygen species scavenger N-acetylcysteine, indicating that reactive oxygen species played a key role in AE-mediated autophagy in A549 and NCI-H1299 cells. Furthermore, AE induced reactive oxygen species-dependent autophagy in A549 and NCI-H1299 cells, which attenuated apoptosis. Additionally, AE showed synergistic cytotoxic effects with the antitumor drug gemcitabine in A549 and NCI-H1299 cells. In brief, these results showed that AE might be useful for developing a therapeutic candidate for lung cancer complications. PMID: 32926915 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: European Journal of Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Eur J Pharmacol Source Type: research