Of late, many studies are attempting to find new molecules with anticancer properties, especially those with the capability to inhibit cell growth. The aim of this work was to evaluate nerolidol, a plant-based compound, as its cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, antiproliferative and apoptotic induction, cell cycle, mitochondrial membrane potential and RT-qPCR of transcripts related to those pathways in the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2/C3A). Only cis-nerolidol (C-NER) demonstrated cytotoxicity (100-250 μM) activity and was selected to conduct the following experiments. C-NER did not show genotoxic activity, but altered the mitochondrial membrane potential, reduced cell proliferation by arresting cell cycle in G1 phase and induced cell death. RT-qPCR showed that C-NER down-regulated genes related to apoptosis (BAK1, BAX, CAPN1, CASP8, CASP9, PARP1 and TP53), cell cycle (CCND1, CCNE1, CDK1 and CDK2), xenobiotic metabolism (CYP2D6 and CYP3A4) and paraptosis (IGF1R receptor). Up-regulation was seen in case of genes related to cell survival (BBC3 and MYC) and reticulum stress protein response (EIF2AK3 and ERN1) and xenobiotic metabolism (CYP1A2 and CYP2C19). We deduced that the antiproliferative activity of C-NER is attributable to its modulation of the cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases as these proteins are necessary for G1/S phase transition. EIF2AK3, ERN1, CYP2C19 and CYP1A2 up-regulation suggests that endoplasmic reticulum stress was induced owing to the increased activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes. Caspase-independent cell death was also observed, indicating that another type of cell death, paraptosis, was triggered. Our results indicate that C-NER has considerable potential in anticancer therapy because it modulates important molecular targets of cell survival and proliferation.

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Harpagophytum procumbens (Hp) has been used as antiinflammatory and analgesic agent for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. The principal active component of Hp is harpagoside (HA). We tested the toxicity of this new therapeutic agent in a hepatic cell line (HepG2/C3A). Hp was found to be cytotoxic, and HA was found to decrease the number of cells in S phase, increase the number of cells in G2/M phase and induce apoptosis. Neither Hp nor HA was genotoxic. The expression of CDK6 and CTP3A4 was reduced by Hp, and both HA and Hp caused a significant reduction of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 expression. It is possible that the cytotoxicity caused by HA and Hp does not involve transcriptional regulation of the cyclins and CDKs tested but is instead related to the inhibition of metabolism. This is evidenced by the results of an MTT assay and changes in the expression of genes related to drug metabolism, leading to cell death. Indeed, the cells exhibited decreased proliferation upon exposure to Hp and HA. The data show that treatment with either Hp or HA can be cytotoxic, and this should be taken into consideration when balancing the risks and benefits of treatments for rheumatic diseases. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley& Sons, Ltd.

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