Parthenolide Induces Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest by the Suppression of miR-375 Through Nucleolin in Prostate Cancer

Aims: To investigate the effect of parthenolide on nucleolin in controlling the expression of miR-375 that induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in prostate cancer.

Study Design: This study is an experimental study.

Methodology: The cytotoxicity effect of parthenolide was tested by MTT assay for 48 h. Microscopic techniques were used to identify the morphological changes of the cell line. The expression of apoptotic and cell cycle regulatory genes was analyzed by the Real-Time PCR. The phase of cell cycle arrest was identified by Flow cytometry.

Results: The obtained results indicated that parthenolide induced cytotoxicity and suppressed the proliferation by reducing the growth of LNCaP cells in 48 h. The microscopic analysis showed the alteration of cell morphology and increase of cytoplasmic reactive oxygen species. Parthenolide promotes apoptosis by the downregulation of nucleolin, Bcl-2, and up-regulation of Bax gene. Moreover, the flow cytometry assay showed the G1/G0 phase of cell cycle arrest.

Conclusion: Parthenolide induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest through nucleolin by the suppression of miR-375 in prostate cancer cells.