Sulforaphane induces programmed cell death in medulloblastoma cells. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Induction of medulloblastoma cell apoptosis by sulforaphane, a dietary anticarcinogen from Brassica vegetables.
Cancer Lett. 2004 Jan 8;203(1):35-43. PMID: 14670615
Centre de Cancérologie Charles-Bruneau, Hôpital Ste-Justine, 3175 Chemin Côte-Ste-Catherine, H3T 1C5 Montréal, Que., Canada.
There is increasing evidence that a variety of natural substances derived from the diet may act as potent chemopreventive agents. In this work, we show that DAOY cells, a widely used model of metastatic medulloblastoma (MBL), are highly sensitive to sulforaphane, a naturally occurring isothiocyanate from Brassica vegetables. Sulforaphane induced DAOY cell death by apoptosis, as determined by DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation. DAOY apoptosis correlates with the induction of caspase-3 and -9 activities, resulting in the cleavage of PARP and vimentin. Both the cytotoxic effect and apoptotic characteristics induced by sulforaphane were reversed by zVAD-fmk, a broad spectrum caspase inhibitor, demonstrating the important role of caspases in its cytotoxic effect. These results identify sulforaphane as a novel inducer of MBL cell apoptosis, supporting the potential clinical usefulness of diet-derived substances as chemopreventive agents.