Anticancer activity of Noscapine, an opioid alkaloid in combination with Cisplatin in human non-small cell lung cancer.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of Noscapine (Nos) and Cisplatin (Cis) combination treatment in vitro in A549 and H460 lung cancer cells, in vivo in murine xenograft model and to investigate the underlying mechanism. The combination index values (< 0.6) suggested synergistic effects of Nos+Cis and resulted in the highest increase in percentage of apoptotic NSCLC cells and increased expression of p53, p21, caspase 3, cleaved caspase 3, cleaved PARP, Bax, and decreased expression of Bcl₂ and surviving proteins compared with treatment with either agent. Nos+Cis treatment reduced tumor volume by 78.1 ± 7.5% compared with 38.2 ± 6.8% by Cis or 35.4 ± 6.9% by Nos alone in murine xenograft lung cancer model. Nos+Cis treatment decreased expression of pAkt, Akt, cyclin D1, survivin, PARP, Bcl₂, and increased expression of p53, p21, Bax, cleaved PARP, caspase 3, cleaved caspase 3, cleaved caspase 8, caspase 8, cleaved caspase 9 and caspase 9 compared to single-agent treated and control groups. Our results suggest that Nos enhanced the anticancer activity of Cis in an additive to synergistic manner by activating multiple signaling pathways including apoptosis. These findings suggest potential benefit for use of Nos and Cis combination in treatment of lung cancer.

• Authors: Mahavir Chougule, Apurva R Patel, Pratik Sachdeva, Tanise Jackson, Mandip Singh
• Journal: Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands) (Lung Cancer) Vol. 71 Issue 3 Pg. 271-82 (Mar 2011) ISSN: 1872-8332 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 20674069 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Chemical References

• Antineoplastic Agents
• Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins
• Noscapine
• Cisplatin

Topics

• Animals
• Antineoplastic Agents (pharmacology)
• Apoptosis (drug effects, genetics)
• Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins (metabolism)
• Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung (drug therapy, pathology)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Cell Survival (drug effects)
• Cisplatin (pharmacology)
• DNA Fragmentation (drug effects)
• Drug Synergism
• Female
• Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic (drug effects)
• Humans
• Mice
• Mice, Nude
• Noscapine (pharmacology)
• Signal Transduction (drug effects)
• Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays