Abstract 7308: Induction of apoptosis via the regulation of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins in pancreatic adenocarcinoma BxPC-3 cells by Chinese medicinal herbs Scutellaria barbata and Oldenlandia diffusa
Authors: Choi Christine , Wolf Sarah , Isaac Rekha , Choi Elim , Shim Abigail , Campana Angel , Uppala Padma T. , Hayes Ryan , Wong Brian Yuen Yau 
Published: March 2024

Apoptosis is a controlled program cell death process that the body uses to combat cancer development. Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with a poor prognosis. It is usually symptom-free during development and is advanced at diagnosis. BxPC-3 is a pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell derived from a 61-year-old female with adenocarcinoma. Scutellaria barbata (SB) and Oldenlanda diffusa (OD) have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating liver, lung, and rectal cancers. They are included in most herbal cancer treatment formulas in Taiwan hospitals. We previously demonstrated that aqueous extracts of SB and OD selectively induced apoptosis in colon HCT 116 cancer cells but not in colon CCD 841 CoN normal epithelial cells by modulating the pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins. They also induced and regulated apoptosis in pancreatic ductal carcinoma PANC-1 Cells. This study used the green/red/blue fluorescent Apoptosis/Necrosis Detection Kit and the Human Apoptosis Antibody Array - Membrane [43 Targets] Test (Abcam). Our fluorescent apoptosis data showed that a 2-hour treatment with 1.5 mg/mL and 3.0 mg/mL aqueous extract of SB and OD induced a statistically significant percentage of apoptosis in BxPC-3 cells (SB: 42.5 ± 3.5%, 48.5 ± 0.5% &gt; 14.0% ± 4.0%, p &lt; 0.05; OD: 72.0 ± 2.0%, 37.5 ± 1.5%&gt; 14.0% ± 4.0%, p &lt; 0.05) as compared to the negative control respectively. Similar results were obtained with the 4-hour incubation period (SB: 46.0 ± 8.0%, 54.5 ± 2.5% &gt; 9.5% ± 2.5%, p &lt; 0.05; OD: 49.0 ± 7.0%, 37.0 ± 0.0%&gt; 9.5% ± 2.5%, p &lt; 0.05). From the antibody array-membrane experiments, significant up-regulation of various pro-apoptotic proteins such as Bid, Bim, Bad, Bax, C3, C8, CD40, HTRA, IGFBP-4, IGFBP-4, p53, TNF-α, and TRAIL-2 as compared to the negative controls were observed; and regulation of anti-apoptotic proteins HSP27, IGF-II, and Survivin were also revealed. These results suggest that SB and OD contain phytochemicals that induce apoptosis in pancreatic adenocarcinoma BxPC-3 cells by regulating various apoptotic protein productions. Further study of their specific modulation effects of apoptosis is warranted to reveal their potential chemopreventive and therapeutic properties against pancreatic and other cancers.

Citation Format: Christine Choi, Sarah Wolf, Rekha Isaac, Elim Choi, Abigail Shim, Angel Campana, Padma T. Uppala, Ryan Hayes, Brian Yuen Yau Wong. Induction of apoptosis via the regulation of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins in pancreatic adenocarcinoma BxPC-3 cells by Chinese medicinal herbs Scutellaria barbata and Oldenlandia diffusa [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 7308.