The effect of aloe-emodin-induced photodynamic activity on the apoptosis of human gastric cancer cells: A pilot study

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of aloe-emodin (AE)-induced photodynamic activity in human gastric cancer cells. AE was used as a photosensitizer to explore the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in human gastric cancer cells (SGC-7901). An MTT assay was used to detect the effect of AE-induced PDT in optimal concentrations and illumination energy densities in human gastric cancer cells. Following AE-induced PDT, morphological changes of the cells and the rate of cell death were evaluated by TUNEL assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The expression levels of caspase-9 and caspase-3 were determined by western blot analysis. The AE and AE-induced PDT demonstrated a significant inhibitive effect on the proliferation of human gastric cancer cells in dose-dependent and energy-dependent manners. For subsequent experiments, 10 µM AE and 12.8 J/cm2 illumination energy density were used. Typical morphological changes of apoptosis were observed in the cells using a TUNEL assay 12 h subsequent to AE-induced PDT. The percentage of apoptotic cells treated with AE-induced PDT significantly increased when compared with the control group, the 10 µM AE group and the illumination group (P<0.05). Upregulation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 protein levels was also observed following AE-induced PDT. The present study revealed that 10 µM AE-induced PDT had an inhibitory effect on human gastric cancer cells, and it may induce cell apoptosis by upregulating caspase-9 and caspase-3, which indicated that the mitochondrial pathway may be involved. AE-induced PDT has the potential to be a novel therapy for the treatment of human gastric cancer. However, further investigations are required.

Aloe emodin: From antito pro-tumor action

“…Moreover, AE-PDT had marked inhibitory eff ect in vivo and extended the survival time of animals without notable side eff ects [45]. Similar fi ndings were observed in human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells where the AE-induced PDT resulted in the activation of mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis [46]. Apoptosis is also the main outcome of AE-PDT of osteosarcoma MG63 cells.…”

Antiglycation Activity and HT-29 Cellular Uptake of Aloe-Emodin, Aloin, and Aloe arborescens Leaf Extracts

“…Furthermore, it is interesting to note that A. arborescens has been proposed as a palliative therapy in patients with metastatic cancer even in co-administration with the conventional anticancer therapy [9]. In relation to this, the isolated compounds and in particular aloe-emodin have been evaluated in various types of human cancer cell lines where they showed antiproliferative activity [10,11,12]. This activity was also reported in vivo in various mouse models [13,14,15].…”

Emodin alleviates CCl4‑induced liver fibrosis by suppressing epithelial‑mesenchymal transition and transforming growth factor‑β1 in rats

“…Emodin is one of the effective ingredients of the Chinese medicine rhubarb. It has been reported that emodin has a number of pharmacological effects, including antiviral, antibacterial, immunoregulatory and antioxidant functions ( 13 , 14 ). Studies have demonstrated that emodin is able to induce apoptosis via EMT suppression and caspase-dependent signaling ( 15 – 17 ).…”