Differential effects of selective frankincense (Ru Xiang) essential oil versus non-selective sandalwood (Tan Xiang) essential oil on cultured bladder cancer cells: a microarray and bioinformatics study

Abstract

BackgroundFrankincense (Boswellia carterii, known as Ru Xiang in Chinese) and sandalwood (Santalum album, known as Tan Xiang in Chinese) are cancer preventive and therapeutic agents in Chinese medicine. Their biologically active ingredients are usually extracted from frankincense by hydrodistillation and sandalwood by distillation. This study aims to investigate the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activities of frankincense and sandalwood essential oils in cultured human bladder cancer cells.MethodsThe effects of frankincense (1,400–600 dilutions) (v/v) and sandalwood (16,000–7,000 dilutions) (v/v) essential oils on cell viability were studied in established human bladder cancer J82 cells and immortalized normal human bladder urothelial UROtsa cells using a colorimetric XTT cell viability assay. Genes that responded to essential oil treatments in human bladder cancer J82 cells were identified using the Illumina Expression BeadChip platform and analyzed for enriched functions and pathways. The chemical compositions of the essential oils were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.ResultsHuman bladder cancer J82 cells were more sensitive to the pro-apoptotic effects of frankincense essential oil than the immortalized normal bladder UROtsa cells. In contrast, sandalwood essential oil exhibited a similar potency in suppressing the viability of both J82 and UROtsa cells. Although frankincense and sandalwood essential oils activated common pathways such as inflammatory interleukins (IL-6 signaling), each essential oil had a unique molecular action on the bladder cancer cells. Heat shock proteins and histone core proteins were activated by frankincense essential oil, whereas negative regulation of protein kinase activity and G protein-coupled receptors were activated by sandalwood essential oil treatment.ConclusionThe effects of frankincense and sandalwood essential oils on J82 cells and UROtsa cells involved different mechanisms leading to cancer cell death. While frankincense essential oil elicited selective cancer cell death via NRF-2-mediated oxidative stress, sandalwood essential oil induced non-selective cell death via DNA damage and cell cycle arrest.

Actions of Huangqi decoction against rat liver fibrosis: a gene expression profiling analysis

“…Recent research has focused increasingly on investigating drug efficacy by high-throughput technologies and network analysis [ 32 – 34 ]. Liver fibrosis development is associated with a network of profibrogenic and inflammatory signaling pathways [ 1 ].…”

Cancer Chemopreventive Effects of Boswellia sacra Gum Resin Hydrodistillates on Invasive Urothelial Cell Carcinoma: Report of a Case

“… 6 , 7 The mixture of chemical constituents in BSGRH simultaneously activates many genes responsible for antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects through multiple signaling pathways in cancer cells. 8 More important, BSGRH, within a window of concentration, executes cancer cell–specific cytotoxicity in multiple types of human cancer cell lines. 5 , 6 Isolation and purification of a single compound from frankincense extracts may not be as effective as crude extracts for the intended therapeutic purpose due to complexity of chemical profiles and possible synergistic effects of multiple constituents.…”

“… 6 , 7 Technologies and bioinformatics developed in the post–genomic era are very useful to understand pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenomics. 8 In addition, systemic clinical studies are required to demonstrate safety and efficacy of any plant-based therapeutic agent.…”

“… 4 We previously reported that Boswellia sacra gum resin hydrodistillate (BSGRH), a form of extract of frankincense gum resins, possesses cancer cell–specific growth arrest and cytotoxicity in multiple types of human cancer cell lines in cultures, 5 , 6 suppresses tumor growth in a xenograft pancreatic cancer nude mouse model, 7 and simultaneously activates multiple pathways leading to cancer cell–specific death. 8 In this report, we describe cancer chemopreventive effects of oral BSGRH administration alone in a case of high-grade invasive papillary UCC during 2-year follow-up.…”

Effects of Essential Oils on Telomere Length in Human Cells

“…The shortening of telomeres seen may then be related to oxidative damage, or another unrelated mechanism. Of note is the fact that certain EOs have been shown in independent studies to upregulate members of the AP-1 transcription factor complex [18,19]. AP-1 overexpression is known to negatively regulate TERT [20] suggesting yet another mechanism by which these EOs may be downregulating telomerase expression.…”