Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the anticancer properties of isoacteoside against OVCAR-3 human ovarian cancer cells. Its effects on apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, cell invasion, cell cycle arrest and its effects on tumor volume and weight were also evaluated in the current study.
Methods: MTT assay was used to study the cytotoxic effects of the compound on the cell viability. Effects on apoptosis and cell cycle arrest were evaluated by flow cytometry. In vitro wound healing assay and matrigel assay were carried out to study the effects of isoacteoside on cell migration and cell invasion respectively. Non-cancer ovarian cell line SV-40 served as control.
Results: Isoacteoside exerted both dose-dependent as well as time-dependent growth inhibitory effects on ovarian cancer cells with IC50 values of 15 µM at 24h incubation. Isoacteoside led to early and late apoptosis induction in these cells. Isoacteoside also led to sub-G1 cell cycle arrest which showed strong dose-dependence. Isoacteoside treatment also led to inhibition of cell migration and cell invasion. The results revealed that OVCAR-3 tumor growth was significantly suppressed by isoacteoside administration, compared with that in the control group. At the end of the 5-week period of isoacteoside treatment, the average tumor growth and volume in the untreated control group were considerably higher than those in the treated groups.
Conclusion: In brief, the current study indicates that isoacteoside has a great potential in suppressing both in vitro and in vivo ovarian cancer cell growth and can be used as a possible anticancer agent.