Trichothecene macrolides comprise a class of valuable leading compounds in developing anticancer drugs, however, there are few reports concerning their anticancer mechanisms, especially the anticancer mechanism of the 10,13-cyclotrichothecane derivatives that are found mainly in symbiotic fungi. In vitro anticancer activity of two trichothecene macrolides mytoxin B and myrothecine A against the human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721 was investigated in the present study. MTT assay showed that mytoxin B and myrothecine A inhibited the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells in dose- and time-dependent manners. Annexin V-FITC/PI dual staining assay revealed that mytoxin B and myrothecine A both could induce SMMC-7721 cells apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. The decreased expression level of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the increased expression level of pro-apoptotic protein Bax were observed apparently in Western blot analysis. The reduced ratio of Bcl-2/Bax further confirmed the apoptosis-inducing effect of mytoxin B and myrothecine A on SMMC-7721 cells. Moreover, the expression levels of caspases-3, -8, and -9, and cleaved caspases-3, -8, and -9 were all upregulated in both mytoxin B and myrothecine A-treated cells in Western blot analysis, which indicated that both compounds might induce SMMC-7721 cells apoptosis through not only the death receptor pathway but also the mitochondrial pathway. Finally, mytoxin B and myrothecine A were found to reduce the activity of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway that was similar to the effect of LY294002 (a potent and specific PI3K inhibitor), suggesting that both mytoxin B and myrothecine A might induce SMMC-7721 cells apoptosis via PI3K/Akt pathway.
Keywords: PI3K/Akt signaling pathway; SMMC-7721 cells; anticancer mechanism; apoptosis; trichothecene macrolide.