Differential mechanism of action of 3,4’,7-O-trimethylquercetin on three types of ovarian cancer cells

• In Event: Cell and Molecular Biology Oral Session & Section Meeting

Abstract

Quercetin is a class of flavonoids which is a component of several different plants. It has been reported to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. 3,4’,7-O-trimethylquercetin (34’7TMQ), a derivative of quercetin has shown to inhibit metastasis. Recently, it was demonstrated that 34’7TMQ inhibited the in vitro melanoma B16 cell metastatic activity. Our study evaluated the effect of 34’7TMQ on three ovarian cancer cells (SK-OV-3, CRL11731 and CRL1978), and we found that 34’7TMQ inhibited ovarian cancer cell migration and invasion without affecting proliferation. This phase of the study was directed to elucidate if the 34’7TMQ induced apoptotic signaling in the cancer cells. The expression of pro-apoptotic proteins such as BAX, Bcl-2, p38 MAPK, and Caspase-9 were measured by Western Blot analysis. The induction of apoptotic signaling was detected by immunofluorescence using Annexin V and DAPI stains. In CRL-1978 cells, BAX/Bcl-2 and Caspase-9 expression were upregulated whereas p38 MAPK expression was downregulated. In SK-OV-3 cell line, BAX/Bcl-2, Caspase-9, and p38 MAPK expression were upregulated. In CRL-11731, BAX/Bcl-2 expression was downregulated whereas Caspase-9 and p38 MAPK expression were upregulated. 34’7TMQ at 6.25µM induced apoptotic signaling in the CRL-1978 ovarian cancer cell line. Therefore, 34’7TMQ is seen to induce apoptosis in three types of cancer cell lines but it appears to have different mechanism of action for each cell line.

Authors

• A H M Zuberi Ashraf, Student

• Laura Weiser Erlandson, Texas A&M University - Central Texas

• Nasir Uddin, TAMHSC