Treatment with β-elemene combined with paclitaxel inhibits growthmigration and invasion and induces apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells byactivation of STAT-NF-κB pathway

摘要

In this study, we aimed to analyze the anti-cancer effects of β-elemene combinedwith paclitaxel for ovarian cancer. RT-qPCR, MTT assay, western blot, flowcytometry, and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze and anti-cancer effects of combinedtreatment of β-elemene and paclitaxel. The resultsshowed that β-elemene+paclitaxel treatment markedly inhibited ovarian cancercell growth, migration, and invasion compared to either paclitaxel or β-elemenetreatment alone. Results demonstrated that β-elemene+paclitaxel inducedapoptosis of SKOV3 cells, down-regulated anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl geneexpression and up-regulated pro-apoptotic P53 and Apaf1 gene expression in SKOV3cells. Administration of β-elemene+paclitaxel arrested SKOV3 cell cycle at Sphase and down-regulated CDK1, cyclin-B1, and P27 gene expression andapoptotic-related resistant gene expression of MDR1, LRP, and TS in SKOV3 cells. experiments showed that treatment withβ-elemene+paclitaxel significantly inhibited ovarian tumor growth and prolongedthe overall survival of SKOV3-bearing mice. In addition, the treatment inhibitedphosphorylated STAT3 and NF-κB expression and . Furthermore, it inhibited migration and invasionthrough down-regulation of the STAT-NF-κB signaling pathway in SKOV3 cells. Inconclusion, the data suggested that β-elemene+paclitaxel can inhibit ovariancancer growth via down-regulation of the STAT3-NF-κB signaling pathway, whichmay be a potential therapeutic strategy for ovarian cancer therapy.