Mechanism of inhibitory effect of terpenoid compound from Achillea millefolium on human lung cancer cell proliferation.

e15058 Background: A large number of reports have found that many components in traditional Chinese medicine preparations have obvious anti-tumor activities, and most of these effective components are realized by inducing tumor cell apoptosis. In this part of the experiment, we studied terpenoid compound (3β-acetoxy-1β,4α-dihydroxy-11αH-eudesman-12,6α-olide Achillea millefolium A) from Achillea millefolium anti-cancer mechanism, to determine whether this compound by inducing cell apoptosis plays its antitumor activity of cell proliferation. Methods: (1) The apoptosis of NCI-H292 cells treated with 1 μmol/L and 10 μmol/L Achillea millefolium A was detected by Annexinov-FITC /PI stain. (2) The apoptosis of NCI-H292 cells treated with 10 μmol/L Achillea millefolium A for 12 h and 24 h was detected by in situ end labeling. (3) The changes of p53, Bax, Caspase-3/8/12 and GRP78 in NCI-H292 cells were detected by Western blotting. Results: (1) Effects of Achillea millefolium A on apoptosis of NCI-H292 cells: The apoptosis rate of NCI-H292 cells treated with 1 μmol/L and 10 μmol/ L Achillea millefolium A for 12 h was (15.31)% and (17.84)% respectively. The apoptosis rate of NCI-H292 cells treated with 1 μmol/L and 10 μmol/ L Achillea millefolium A for 12 h was (15.37)% . (2), TUNEL method further verified the cell apoptosis: NCI-H292 cells were treated with 10 μmol/L Achillea millefolium A for 12 h and 24 h, and the positive cells accounted for (13.89)% and (28.37)% respectively, compared with blank control group (4.17)%. (3), Achillea millefolium A up-regulated the expression of p53 protein, Bax protein, Caspase-3/8/12 and GRP78 protein in NCI-H292 cells: After NCI-H292 cells were treated with 1 μmol/L and 10 μmol/ L Achillea millefolium A for 24 h, the expressions of p53, Bax, Caspase-3 and Caspase-8 in NCI-H292 cells were significantly up-regulated. After treatment with 1 μmol/L and 10 μmol/ L Achillea millefolium A for 12 h, the expression of Caspase-12 and GRP78 increased significantly. Conclusions: Achillea millefolium A is a terpenoid compound with obvious apoptosis-inducing activity on human lung cancer cell line NCI-H292. Achillea millefolium A induced apoptosis of NCI-H292 cells was the result of multiple pathways. Achillea millefolium A can up-regulate p53 protein, and then up-regulate Bax, and then activate Caspase-3 protein expression. At the same time, the expression of caspase-3 protein was further increased by activating caspase-8, and apoptosis was induced by both exogenous and endogenous pathways. Notably, the complex of ER stress pathway GRP78 and caspase-12 may also be one of the mechanisms by which Achillea millefolium A induces apoptosis in NCI-H292 cells.