Plumbagin reduces chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell survival by downregulation of Bcl-2 but upregulation of the Bax protein level

Fu,Chunling; Gong,Yanqing; Shi,Xuanxuan; Sun,Zengtian; Niu,Mingshan; Sang,Wei; Xu,Linyan; Zhu,Feng; Wang,Ying; Xu,Kailin

doi:10.3892/or.2016.4950

Plumbagin reduces chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell survival by downregulation of Bcl-2 but upregulation of the Bax protein level

Authors:
- Chunling Fu
- Yanqing Gong
- Xuanxuan Shi
- Zengtian Sun
- Mingshan Niu
- Wei Sang
- Linyan Xu
- Feng Zhu
- Ying Wang
- Kailin Xu
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Affiliations: Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221002, P.R. China, Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221002, P.R. China
Published online on: July 19, 2016 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2016.4950
Pages: 1605-1611

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Abstract

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in Western countries, and mainly originates from an accumulation of abnormal B cells caused by the dysregulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis rates. The aberration of apoptosis-related genes in CLL cells results in defective apoptosis of CLL cells in response to traditional therapeutic medicine. Plumbagin (5-hydroxy-2-methyl-1, 4-naphthoquinone), a natural compound from Plumbago zeylinica, has been shown to exhibit pro-apoptotic activities in tumor cells. In the present study, we report that plumbagin effectively inhibited CLL cell viability with a lower dose compared to fludarabine, and inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, plumbagin promoted accumulation of MEC-1 cells in the S phase, and blocked cell cycle transition of HG3 cells from G0/G1 to S phase. Molecularly, plumbagin markedly induced CLL cell apoptosis through reduction of Bcl-2, but through an increase in the Bax protein level. These results suggest that plumbagin may be considered as a potential anticancer agent for CLL therapy.

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