Astragaloside-IV Inhibits Metastasis by Suppressing the SDF-1/CXCR4 Axis and Activating Apoptosis in Cisplatin-Resistant Ovarian Cancer Cells

Year 2024, , 1 - 9, 30.05.2024

Burçin İrem Abas , Ömer Erdoğan , Özge Çevik

https://doi.org/10.26650/EurJBiol.2024.1274734

Abstract

Objective: Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate in women and it has a poor response rate to treatment due to its late diagnosis and is frequently resistant to currently used cisplatin-based treatment methods. Astragaloside IV (As-IV), a bioactive compound and natural tripeptide glycoside known as an antioxidant, has drawn attention in Chinese medicine for its healing properties. Many studies have shown that it has anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antitumoral, and anti-angiogenic properties.
Materials and Methods: In our study, we first rendered ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR-3) resistant to cisplatin and then applied determined doses of As-IV (40 μg/mL) and (70 μg/mL) to OVCAR-3 cells and cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR-3- CisR). The cell viability capacity, variation of BAX/BCL-2 gene expression, and regulation of the SDF-1/CXCR4 chemokine axis protein and their gene expressions were investigated.
Results: According to the findings, As-IV administration suppressed metastasis by lowering the colony formation potential of cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer and down-regulating the SDF-1/CXCR4 axis, and increasing the ratio of BAX/BCL-2 mRNA and protein levels due to BAX up-regulation and BCL-2 down-regulation.
Conclusion: As a result, we showed that As-IV, used as an antioxidant, can be used as an effective anticancer agent to improve response to the currently used cisplatin-based treatment in cases of drug resistance in ovarian cancer.

Keywords

Ovarian cancer, cisplatin, astragaloside IV, chemokine, apoptosis, antioxidant

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