Abstract
Background: Phytosterols have physiological effects and are used as medicines or food supplements. Stigmasterol has shown anticancer effects against various cancers such as hepatoma, cholangiocarcinoma, gall bladder carcinoma, endometrial adenocarcinoma and skin, gastric, breast, prostate, and cervical cancer. However, there are no reports on stigmasterol’s effects on ovarian cancer. Methods: We investigated the effects of stigmasterol on proapoptotic signals, mitochondrial function, reactive oxygen species production, and the cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium levels in human ovarian cancer cells, to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of stigmasterol on ovarian cancer cells. We also conducted migration assay to confirm whether that stigmasterol inhibits ovarian cancer cell migration. Results: Stigmasterol inhibited development of human ovarian cancer cells. However, it induced cell apoptosis, ROS production, and calcium overload in ES2 and OV90 cells. In addition, stigmasterol stimulated cell death by activating the ER-mitochondrial axis. We confirmed that stigmasterol suppressed cell migration and angiogenesis genes in human ovarian cancer cells. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that stigmasterol can be used as a new treatment for ovarian cancer.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 488 |
| Journal | Pharmaceutics |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 Jun |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding: This research was supported by a grant of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), grant funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT(MSIT) (grant number 2018R1C1B6009048).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Apoptosis
- Endoplasmic reticulum
- Migration
- Mitochondria
- Ovarian cancer
- Stigmasterol
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmaceutical Science
