Licoricidin (LCD) is an activity compound of the roots of Glycyrrhiza uralensis, which has therapeutic efficacy, including anti-virus, anti-
cancer, and enhanced immunity in
Traditional Chinese Medicine. Herein, this study aimed to clarify the effect of LCD on
cervical cancer cells. In the present study, we found that LCD significantly inhibited cell viability via inducing cell apoptosis and companies with cleaved-PARP
protein expression and
caspase-3/-9 activity. Cell viability was markedly reversed these effects by pan-
caspase inhibitor
Z-VAD-FMK treatment. Furthermore, we showed that LCD-induced ER (endoplasmic reticulum) stress triggers upregulating the
protein level of
GRP78 (Bip), CHOP, and IRE1α, and subsequently confirmed the
mRNA level by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. In addition, LCD exhibited the release of danger-associated molecular patterns from
cervical cancer cells, such as the release of high-mobility group box 1 (
HMGB1), secretion of
ATP, and exposure of
calreticulin (CRT) on the cell surface, which led to immunogenic cell death (ICD). These results provide a novel foundation that LCD induces ICD via triggering ER stress in human
cervical cancer cells. LCD might be an ICD inducer of
immunotherapy in progressive
cervical cancer.