Programmed cell death

XIAP

Molecular medicine

Biology

Cell cycle

Oncogene

Cell culture

Apoptosis

Protein kinase B

Cancer research

Biochemistry

Caspase

Genetics

Gallic acid

Antioxidant

Inhibitor of apoptosis

Medicine

Cell

PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Cancer

Traditional medicine

Cancer cell

International Journal of Oncology

The natural antioxidant gallic acid (GA) was isolated from fruits of a medicinal Indonesian plant, Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl. The structure was identified on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and comparison with authentic compound. GA demonstrated a significant inhibition of cell proliferation in a series of cancer cell lines and induced apoptosis in esophageal cancer cells (TE-2) but not in non-cancerous cells (CHEK-1). Observation of the molecular mechanism of apoptosis showed that GA up-regulated the pro-apoptosis protein, Bax, and induced caspase-cascade activity in cancer cells. On the other hand, GA down-regulated anti-apoptosis proteins such as Bcl-2 and Xiap. In addition, GA also induced down-regulation of the survival Akt/mTOR pathway. In non-cancerous cells, we observed delayed expression of pro-apoptosis related proteins. Our results suggest that GA might be a potential anticancer compound. However, in depth in vivo studies are needed to elucidate the exact mechanism.

Anticancer effects of gallic acid isolated from Indonesian herbal medicine, Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl, on human cancer cell lines