Impact of Taurine on the proliferation and apoptosis of human cervical carcinoma cells and its mechanism

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer has the fourth highest incidence and mortality rate of all cancers in women worldwide; it seriously harms their physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to observe the roles and preliminary mechanism of Taurine (Tau)-induced apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. Methods: Cells from the human cervical cancer cell line SiHa were transfected with the recombinant plasmid pEGFP-N1-MST1 (mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1); then, the cell proliferation activity was analyzed by the MTT assay, cell apoptosis by flow cytometry, and the related protein levels by Western blotting. Results: Tau inhibited the proliferation of SiHa cells and induced apoptosis in these cells (the apoptotic rate was 21.95% in the Tau 160 mmol/L group and 30% in the Tau 320 mmol/L group), upregulated the expression of the MST1 (control, 0.53; Tau 40–320 mmol/L groups, 0.84–1.45) and Bax (control, 0.45; Tau 40–320 mmol/L groups, 0.64–1.51) proteins ( P < 0.01), and downregulated the expression of Bcl-2 (control, 1.28, Tau 40–320 mmol/L groups, 0.93–0.47) ( P < 0.01). The overexpression of MST1 promoted the apoptosis of SiHa cells, enhanced the apoptosis-inductive effects of Tau ( P < 0.01), upregulated the expression of the proapoptotic proteins p73, p53, PUMA (p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis), and caspase-3, and promoted the phosphorylation of YAP (Yes-associated protein). Conclusions: Tau inhibited the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of cervical cancer SiHa cells. The MST1 protein plays an important role in the Tau-induced apoptosis of cervical cancer cells.

Metabolic Changes of Cholangiocarcinoma Cells in Response to Coniferyl Alcohol Treatment

“…ATP plays a critical role in early apoptosis as it interacts with apoptotic protease activating factor 1 (Apaf-1) before activation of the caspase cascade pathway [ 34 ]. Previous reports suggested that taurine induced apoptosis in many types of cancers [ 35 , 36 ]. However, the exposure of taurine can suppress the apoptosis in cardiomyocyte by inhibition interaction between apaf-1 and caspase-9 to form apoptosomes [ 37 ].…”

Role of taurine, its haloamines and its lncRNA TUG1 in both inflammation and cancer progression. On the road to therapeutics? (Review)

“…Taurine functions as a redox-directed agent to specifically target tumor cells, raising the possibilities to achieve drug selectivity without off-target toxicity. Several cases have proved that taurine displays strong growth-inhibitory effect on multiple cancer types including colon cancer ( 42 , 43 ), lung cancer ( 44 ), hepatocarcinoma ( 30 ), pancreatic cancer ( 45 ), glioma ( 46 ), melanoma ( 47 ) breast cancer ( 48 - 51 ), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) ( 52 ), prostate cancer ( 53 , 54 ) and ovarian cancer ( 55 , 56 ).…”

“…Additionally to the functional significance of taurine in the diagnosis of bladder cancer, it has been suggested that taurine was effective in forestalling the proliferation of cervical cancer (CC) SiHa cells, through induction of apoptosis. The underlying molecular mechanism of taurine was based on upregulation of MST1 signaling pathway signaling pathway, leading to increased p53 nuclear transcriptional translocation ( 55 ).…”

Bromamine T (BAT) Exerts Stronger Anti-Cancer Properties than Taurine (Tau)

“…Tau is involved in osmoregulation, the modulation of protein phosphorylation, calcium ion regulation, anti-oxidant response, membrane stabilization, bile acid conjugation, lipid metabolism, glucose regulation [ 20 ]. Tau displays a strong growth-inhibitory effect on multiple cancer types including colon cancer [ 21 , 22 ], lung cancer [ 23 ], hepatocarcinoma [ 24 ], pancreatic cancer [ 25 ], glioma [ 26 ], melanoma [ 27 ], breast cancer [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ], nasopharyngeal carcinoma [ 32 ], prostate cancer [ 33 , 34 ] and ovarian cancer [ 35 ]. Additionally, Tau has been shown to attenuate the toxic side effects of classical chemotherapeutic drugs (doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, cis-platin, tamoxifen), thereby enhancing their therapeutic efficacy [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”