Lycopene and β-carotene may act as potent anti-proliferative agents in ESCC cells. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Suppressive effects of lycopene andβ-carotene on the viability of the human esophageal squamous carcinoma cell line EC109.
Oncol Lett. 2018 May ;15(5):6727-6732. Epub 2018 Mar 5. PMID: 29731858
Nguyen Ba Ngoc
The molecular mechanisms underlying the chemopreventive effects of carotenoids in different types of cancer are receiving increasing attention. In the present study, the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorγ (PPARγ) in the effect of lycopene and β-carotene on the viability of EC109 human esophageal squamous carcinoma cells was investigated. The viability of EC109 cells was evaluated using MTT assays. The effects of lycopene and β-carotene on the expression of PPARγ, p21, cyclin D1 and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were analyzed by western blotting. Lycopene andβ-carotene (5-40 µM) dose- and time-dependently reduced the viability of the EC109 cells. GW9662, an irreversible PPARγ antagonist, partly attenuated the decrease in EC109 cell viability induced by these carotenoids. Lycopene and β-carotene treatments upregulated the expression of PPARγ and p21, and downregulated the expression of cyclin D1 and COX-2. These modulatory effects of the carotenoid treatments were suppressed by GW9662, suggesting that the inhibition of EC109 cell viability by lycopene andβ-carotene involves PPARγ signaling pathways and the modulation of p21, cyclin D1 and COX-2 expression.