Tomentosin induces apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells through increasing reactive oxygen species and decreasing mitochondrial membrane potential

The aim of this study was to determine possible anticancer effect of tomentosin, a natural sesquiterpene lactone, on pancreatic cancer cells. The cytotoxic effect of tomentosin on human pancreatic cancer cells was determined by XTT analysis. After treatment with tomentosin, apoptosis rate was determined and migration, invasion and colony formation analyzes were performed. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and the change in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were evaluated. The effect of tomentosin on expression levels of apoptosis-related genes was determined by qRT-PCR. The levels of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 were analyzed by western blot. The IC 50 dose of tomentosin was found to be 31.11 µM in PANC-1 cells and 33.93 μM in MIA PaCa-2 cells for 48 hours. Treatment with tomentosin induced apoptosis and ROS production in pancreatic cancer cells. And, after tomentosin treatment, MMP decreased and migration, invasion and colony formation of pancreatic cancer cells were suppressed. While tomentosin affected expression level of apoptosis-related genes, an increase was observed in Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 protein levels. Considering all the data together, this study reveals that tomentosin has anticancer effects on pancreatic cancer cells, and therefore it predicts that tomentosin can be evaluated as an effective agent against pancreatic cancer.