Isoalantolactone has been shown to inhibit the growth of different
cancer cells. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of
isoalantolactone on the proliferation of
endometrial cancer HEC-1-B cells. Results showed that
isoalantolactone suppressed the proliferation of HEC-1-B cells in a concentration-dependent manner and exhibited an IC50 of 10 µM. The cytotoxic effects of
isoalantolactone were relatively lower against the normal THESC cells. Mechanistic studies revealed apoptosis to be responsible for the
isoalantolactone mediated antiproliferative effects.
Annexin V/PI assay showed that the percentage of the apoptotic HEC-1B cells increased from 3.74% in untreated cells to 28.9% at 20 µM
isoalantolactone. The expression of Bax was significantly increased and that of Bcl-2 was decreased in
isoalantolactone treated HEC-1B cells. Analysis of ROS levels revealed that the ROS levels of HEC-1B cells increased with the increase in concentration of
isoalantolactone. The ROS levels increased to 210% of the control at 20 µM
isoalantolactone. The wound healing and the transwell assays showed that migration and invasion of the HEC-1B cells was significantly decreased upon
isoalantolactone treatment. Finally, the effects of
isoalantolactone were also evaluated on the
MEK/ERK signalling pathway. It was found that
isoalantolactone could concentration-dependently block the expression of p-
MEK and p-ERK. Taken together, the results suggest that
isoalantolactone could prove to be a lead molecule in the development of
chemotherapy for
endometrial cancer.