β‑asarone suppresses HCT116 colon cancer cell proliferation and liver metastasis in part by activating the innate immune system

Abstract

Studies have revealed that β-asarone exerts a powerful inhibitory effect on the proliferation of human cancer cells. The authors' previous study demonstrated that β-asarone could induce LoVo colon cancer cell apoptosis in vitro and in vivo, indicating its anticancer properties. The present study aimed to determine the antineoplastic effect of β-asarone in HCT116 colon cancer cells. An in vitro proliferation assay using a real time cell analyzer demonstrated that β-asarone effectively decreased HCT116 cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that differentially expressed genes following β-asarone inhibition were involved in the 'cell cycle', 'cell division', 'cell proliferation' and 'apoptosis'. Subsequently, a xenograft assay evidenced the inhibitory effect of β-asarone on the growth of HCT116 tumors in vivo. Further detection of immune-associated cytokines and cells suggested that β-asarone might be involved in the antitumor immune response by stimulating granulocyte-colony stimulating factor and increasing the number of macrophage cells in the spleen. Additionally, a murine model of splenic-transplantation verified the strong suppressive role of β-asarone in colon cancer liver metastasis in vivo. Taken together, the results of the current study revealed that β-asarone decreased HCT116 colon cancer cell proliferation and liver metastasis potentially by activating the innate immune system, supporting the multi-system regulation theory and providing a basis for further mechanistic studies on colon cancer.

Food-Borne Chemical Carcinogens and the Evidence for Human Cancer Risk

“…Human Effects : No epidemiological studies investigating association of asarones with human cancer risk has been reported; however, some in vitro studies indicate anticarcinogenic properties of β-asarone [ 137 , 138 ].…”

Perspective of using Indian Polyherbal Medicine in the Treatment of Cancer

“…(β)-Asarone showed chemo preventive and anticancer effect on all kinds of cancer cell lines, such as Hep3 (hepatic carcinoma), MDA-MB-435S (breast cancer), AGS (gastric cancer), HSKMC (fibroblast), LoVo (Colon cancer), HT29 (colorectal cancer) and HeLa (cervical cancer) cells. Recently, it has been reported that β-asarone by activating the innate immune system can successfully inhibit liver metastasis and proliferative action in HCT116 colon cancer cells [31]. The underlying mechanism of β-asarone involves suppression/inhibition of cell proliferation and angiogenesis, while exaggerating apoptosis [32][33][34][35].…”