Ethanol extract of Forsythia suspensa root induces apoptosis of esophageal carcinoma cells via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway

Zhao,Lianmei; Yan,Xi; Shi,Juan; Ren,Fengzhi; Liu,Lihua; Sun,Shiping; Shan,Baoen

doi:10.3892/mmr.2014.2874

Ethanol extract of Forsythia suspensa root induces apoptosis of esophageal carcinoma cells via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway

Authors:
- Lianmei Zhao
- Xi Yan
- Juan Shi
- Fengzhi Ren
- Lihua Liu
- Shiping Sun
- Baoen Shan
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Affiliations: Research Center, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China, National Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, P.R. China, Department of Natural Medicine Development, New Drug Research and Development Center of North China Pharmaceutical Group Corporation, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050015, P.R. China
Published online on: November 5, 2014 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2014.2874
Pages: 871-880
Copyright: © Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY_NC 3.0].

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Abstract

Forsythia suspensa root is used in the treatment of fever and jaundice in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In the present study, the anti-tumor activity of the ethanolic extract of Forsythia suspensa root (FSREE) against esophageal carcinoma cells was investigated in vitro and in vivo and its anti-cancer mechanism was examined. The results revealed that FSREE, rather than Forsythia suspensa ethanolic extracts from the leaf (FSLEE) and fruit (FSFEE) exhibited marked anti-tumor activity towards human esophageal cancer cells. FSREE induced cancer cell apoptosis and growth arrest by downregulating B‑cell lymphoma (Bcl)‑2, Bcl‑extra large and myeloid cell leukemia 1, while upregulating Bcl‑2‑associated X protein, Bcl‑2 antagonist of cell death and phorbol‑12‑myristate‑13‑acetate‑induced protein 1. This led to the activation of poly(ADP ribose) polymerase, caspase‑3 and caspase‑9, but not caspase‑8. Furthermore, the anti-cancer activity of FSREE was associated with a decreased level of phosphorylated Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and extracellular‑signal‑regulated kinase signaling activity. It was also observed that the levels of cytochrome c were elevated in the cytoplasm, accounting for the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in the TE‑13 cells upon treatment with FSEER. In addition, FSEER inhibited the growth of esophageal cancer cells in xenograft models and no detectable toxicity was present in the lung or liver tissues. These observations provided further evidence of the anti-tumor effect of FSEER and may be of importance to further examine the potential role of Forsythia suspensa root as a therapeutic agent in esophageal carcinoma therapy.

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