青蒿素研究为新型抗癌药物研发提供重要依据

近日，国际学术期刊Journal  of  Cellular  and  Molecular  Medicine发表了中科院营养所关于青蒿素及其衍生物抗癌研究的最新发现文章。

在王慧研究员的指导下，博士生陈涛通过肿瘤细胞系和动物模型，系统研究了青蒿素及其主要衍生物对卵巢癌的潜在抗癌活性以及构效关系，并探讨了相关分子机制。研究表明，双氢青蒿素(Dihydroartemisinin)在该类化合物中活性较强，能有效的抑制卵巢癌的生长，其抗癌机制是通过“死亡受体以及线粒体介导的-Caspases依赖性”凋亡信号途径来实现的；同时双氢青蒿素可以作为化疗药物增敏剂，明显提高卵巢癌一线化疗药卡铂(Carboplatin)的疗效。该研究为青蒿素类化合物作为新型抗癌(辅助)药物用于临床研究提供了重要的实验依据。（生物谷Bioon.com）

生物谷推荐原始出处：

Journal of cellular and molecular medicine, 2008 May 2

Dihydroartemisinin Induces Apoptosis and Sensitizes Human Ovarian Cancer Cells to Carboplatin Therapy.

Chen T, Li M, Zhang R, and Wang H

The present study was designed to determine the effects of artemisinin and its derivatives on human ovarian cancer cells, to evaluate their potential as novel chemotherapeutic agents used alone or in combination with a conventional cancer chemotherapeutic agent, and to investigate their underlying mechanisms of action. Human ovarian cancer cells (A2780 and OVCAR-3), and Immortalized non-tumorigenic human Ovarian Surface Epithelial cells (IOSE144), were exposed to four artemisinin compounds for cytotoxicity testing. The in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects and possible underlying mechanisms of action of dihydroartemisinin, the most effective compound, were further determined in ovarian cancer cells. Artemisinin compounds exerted potent cytotoxicity to human ovarian carcinoma cells, with minimal effects on non-tumorigenic OSE cells. Dihydroartemisinin inhibited ovarian cancer cell growth when administered alone or in combination with carboplatin, presumably through the death receptor- and, mitochondrion-mediated caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway. These effects were also observed in in vivo ovarian A2780 and OVCAR-3 xenograft tumor models. In conclusion, artemisinin derivatives, particularly dihydroartemisinin, exhibit significant anticancer activity against ovarian cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, with minimal toxicity to non-tumorigenic human OSE cells, indicating that they may be promising therapeutic agents for ovarian cancer, either used alone or in combination with conventional chemotherapy.