The potent cytotoxicity effect of thymoquinone on Chinese ovarian carcinoma cell line HO-8910 mediated by activating autophagy pathway.

Abstract Ovarian cancer is known for its highest mortality rate in gynecological malignancy. Previous studies demonstrated that thymoquinone (TQ), a bioactive compound isolated from Nigella sativa L., is a potent anti-ovarian cancer agent, which inhibit tumor growth by modulating apoptotic activity. In this study, we found that the effect of chemotherapy on ovarian cancer cells in vitro varies by race/ethnicity. HO-8910 was established from Chinese patient with ovarian serous carcinoma. The results showed that HO-8910 displayed higher resistance to platinum than SKOV3. And further cell variability assay indicated that TQ exhibited dramatically inhibitory activity on HO-8910 and SKOV3. However, apoptosis and cell cycle analysis suggested TQ had multiple mechanisms for its cytotoxic effect. As for HO-8910, TQ could modulated expression level of several pivotal factors involving autophagy, including PI3K, ATG-7, Bectlin-1 and p62, but has little effect on p53, PARP and caspase-3, and no effect on Bax. Our results sustained that TQ was a promising anti-ovarian cancer candidate and its potential application in Chinese patients, even Asian patients , treatment in clinic.