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Diallyl sulfide induces apoptosis in Colo 320 DM human colon cancer cells: involvement of caspase-3, NF-κB, and ERK-2

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Abstract

Chemoprevention is regarded as one of the most promising and realistic approaches in the prevention of human cancer. Diallyl sulfide (DAS), an organosulfur component of garlic has been known for its chemopreventive activities against various cancers and also in recent years, numerous investigations have shown that sulfur-containing compounds induce apoptosis in multiple cell lines and experimental animals. Thus the present study was focused to elucidate the anticancerous effect and the mode of action of DAS against Colo 320 DM colon cancer cells. DAS induced apoptosis in Colo 320 DM cells was revealed by flow cytometer analysis and phosphatidyl serine exposure. DAS also promoted cell cycle arrest substantially at G2/M phase in Colo 320 DM cells. The production of reactive oxygen intermediates, which were examined by 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCF-DA), increased with time, after treatment with DAS. The activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were decreased upon DAS treatment, which shows the antiproliferative and the cytotoxic effects, respectively. The expression of NF-κB was upregulated in DAS treated cells, compared to normal cells. Further, DAS promoted the expression of caspase-3 and suppression of Extracellular Regulatory Kinase-2 (ERK-2) activity in Colo 320 DM cells that was determined by Western blot analysis. In conclusion, DAS increased the production of ROS, caused cell cycle arrest, decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in Colo 320 DM cells. Thus, this study put forward DAS as a drug that can possibly be used to treat cancers.

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Acknowledgment

We wish to thank Dr. Ramamurthy, Director, Ultrafast process, University of Madras, for helping us in confocal microscopy imaging.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600 025, India

    Narayanan Sriram, Srinivasan Kalayarasan, Pandurangan Ashokkumar, Ananthasadagopan Sureshkumar & Ganapasam Sudhandiran

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  1. Narayanan Sriram
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  2. Srinivasan Kalayarasan
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Correspondence to Ganapasam Sudhandiran.

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Sriram, N., Kalayarasan, S., Ashokkumar, P. et al. Diallyl sulfide induces apoptosis in Colo 320 DM human colon cancer cells: involvement of caspase-3, NF-κB, and ERK-2. Mol Cell Biochem 311, 157–165 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-008-9706-8

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