α-bisabolol enhances radiotherapy-induced apoptosis in endometrial cancer cells by reducing the effect of XIAP on inhibiting caspase-3
Authors: Hongxin Wang
Wenwen Wei
Dongmei Fang
Min Li
Journal: Bioscience reports (2019)
Discipline: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS
Keywords: XIAP/ caspase-3 pathway; apoptosis; endometrial cancer; radiotherapy; α-bisabolol.
Affiliations: Department of Gynecology, The Second Children and Women's Healthcare of Jinan City, Jinan, Shandong 271100, China ., Department of Gynecology, The Second Children and Women's Healthcare of Jinan City, Jinan, Shandong 271100, China.

Abstract:  Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common cancers in females. Although the diagnosis and treatment in early stages can greatly improve the survival rate of patients, the advanced EC still is lethal. Radiotherapy is widely used against EC, and it is a great challenge to find an effective way to overcome the resistance of EC during radiotherapy. α-bisabolol is a promising drug, which has already exhibited its anti-tumor effect in some malignancies. Here we reported that α-bisabolol could inhibit the proliferation of EC cells. It is also shown that their abilities of migration and invasion were effectively reduced by α-bisabolol. Furthermore, our results also demonstrated that α-bisabolol could improve sensitivity of EC cells in radiotherapy and further inhibited the growth of EC cells. By Western blot, we found the expression of matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) and cyclin E were significantly decreased, which indicated that EC cells can be further suppressed by using α-bisabolol and radiotherapy. It is also demonstrated in our study that the rate of apoptotic cells is markedly increased in EC by using these two treatments. The significant decrease in X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) and increase in caspase-3 detected in our study suggested that the enhancement of apoptosis is mediated by XIAP/caspase-3 pathway, which was further confirmed by examining the downstream effectors of caspase-3, COX-2, PARP and cleaved PARP. In the present study, we demonstrated that α-bisabolol could enhance the sensitivity of EC cells to radiotherapy, which provide a novel alternative for overcoming radioresistance of EC cells and achieving a better outcome in radiotherapy. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Possible image overlap in Figure 2B. See green boxes below. Top: showing concern; Bottom: original image (cropped only). *** ![file] *** ![file] , 
 The Editorial Office has been made aware of potential issues surrounding the scientific validity of this paper, hence has issued an expression of concern to notify readers whilst the Editorial Office investigates. , 
 A control band in this paper seems to also appear in a concurrently published paper by different authors in a different journal. Details below. Figure 3D, Bioscience Reports (2019), doi: 10.1042 bsr20190696, Received: 22 March 2019, discussed here: https: pubpeer.com publications B5B0BCC1C5852986835D054B6B80E9 Figure 4A, Cancer Cell International (2019), doi: 10.1186 s12935-019-0985-9, Received: 21 March 2019, discussed here: https: pubpeer.com publications 6D5C2D732980D513CA0F32665586EE In addition to this issue, both papers also have other image concerns. I will notify both journals. *** ![file] , 
 Retraction, 31 August 2022: https: portlandpress.com bioscirep article 42 8 BSR-2019-0696_RET 231718 Retraction-bisabolol-enhances-radiotherapy-induced  This Retraction follows an Expression of Concern relating to this article previously published by Portland Press. This article is being retracted from Bioscience Reports at the request of the authors following receipt of a notification from a reader alerting the Editorial Office to western blot bands that appear in both this paper and another paper by different authors (doi: 10.1186 s12935-019-0985-9). The authors wish to retract the article. The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board agree with the retraction. ,