RETRACTED ARTICLE: Alternol inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in mouse lymphocyte leukemia (L1210) cells

Abstract

Alternol is a novel compound purified from the fermenting products by microorganisms named as Alternaria alternata var. monosporus from the bark of Yew. In this study, we tested its effect on mouse lymphocyte leukemia L1210 cells. Alternol was found to inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis in L1210 cells. When the cells were treated with Alternol, chromatin condensation and phosphatidylserine externalization were observed with the down-regulation of the pro-survival gene Bcl-2 and the activation of caspase-3, caspase-9, but not caspase-8. Moreover, exposure of cells to Alternol resulted in a significant increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial transmembrane potential (DeltaPsim) depolarization. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Alternol is a potent agent in inducing L1210 cells to apoptosis, which involve caspase activation and ROS generation.

Natural Compound Alternol Induces Oxidative Stress–Dependent Apoptotic Cell Death Preferentially in Prostate Cancer Cells

“…In this study, we found that the protein levels of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 but not Bcl-X L significantly decreased while the Bax interacting protein Bif-1 moderately increased after Alternol treatment, which is supported by a previous report (5)(4). As a major Bax inhibitory protein, Bcl-2 down-regulation is postulated to facilitate Bax-mediated apoptotic cell death after Alternol treatment.…”

“…Alternol was shown to down-regulate anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and Bcl-x L expression in mouse leukemia cells (5). In this study, we assessed the major members of Bcl-2 family proteins during Alternol treatment.…”

“…monosporus , which was obtained from the bark of yew tree in Kunming, China (3-5). This source is similar as the current anti-cancer drug Paclitaxel (6), which has been effectively used for lung, breast and gastric cancers, and its derivative Docetaxel has been approved for use in prostate cancers (7).…”

“…This source is similar as the current anti-cancer drug Paclitaxel (6), which has been effectively used for lung, breast and gastric cancers, and its derivative Docetaxel has been approved for use in prostate cancers (7). It has been shown that Alternol induced cell cycle arrest, interrupted epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and apoptotic cell death in human cancer cell lines (3-5, 8, 9). A recent publication showed that Alternol preferentially kills prostate cancer cells over non-malignant prostatic epithelial cells, indicating a potential benefit for prostate cancer patients (10).…”

Alternol induces an S‐phase arrest of melanoma B16F0 cells

“…The production of alternol is simple and with higher plurinatality, providing alternol a strong competitive advantage. Alternol inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in human gastric carcinoma cells and mouse lymphocyte leukemia cells (Liu et al, a, b).…”