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Identification of a novel compound (β-sesquiphellandrene) from turmeric (Curcuma longa) with anticancer potential: comparison with curcumin

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Summary

Considering that as many as 80 % of the anticancer drugs have their roots in natural products derived from traditional medicine, we examined compounds other than curcumin from turmeric (Curcuma longa) that could exhibit anticancer potential. Present study describes the isolation and characterization of another turmeric-derived compound, β-sesquiphellandrene (SQP) that exhibits anticancer potential comparable to that of curcumin. We isolated several compounds from turmeric, including SQP, α-curcumene, ar-turmerone, α-turmerone, β-turmerone, and γ-turmerone, only SQP was found to have antiproliferative effects comparable to those of curcumin in human leukemia, multiple myeloma, and colorectal cancer cells. While lack of the NF-κB-p65 protein had no effect on the activity of SQP, lung cancer cells that expressed p53 were more susceptible to the cytotoxic effect of SQP than were cells that lacked p53 expression. SQP was also found to be highly effective in suppressing cancer cell colony formation and inducing apoptosis, as shown by assays of intracellular esterase activity, plasma membrane integrity, and cell-cycle phase. SQP was found to induce cytochrome c release and activate caspases that lead to poly ADP ribose polymerase cleavage. SQP exposure was associated with downregulation of cell survival proteins such cFLIP, Bcl-xL, Bcl-2, c-IAP1, and survivin. Furthermore, SQP was found to be synergistic with the chemotherapeutic agents velcade, thalidomide and capecitabine. Overall, our results indicate that SQP has anticancer potential comparable to that of curcumin.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Amy L Ninetto from the Department of Scientific Publications for carefully editing the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the Center for Targeted Therapy of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Jarrow Formulas, CA. Dr. Aggarwal is the Ransom Horne, Jr., Professor of Cancer Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cytokine Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Therapeutics Unit 1950, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Amit Kumar Tyagi, Sahdeo Prasad & Bharat B. Aggarwal

  2. National Center for Pharmaceutical Crops, Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, USA

    Wei Yuan & Shiyou Li

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  1. Amit Kumar Tyagi
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  2. Sahdeo Prasad
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Correspondence to Sahdeo Prasad.

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Tyagi, A.K., Prasad, S., Yuan, W. et al. Identification of a novel compound (β-sesquiphellandrene) from turmeric (Curcuma longa) with anticancer potential: comparison with curcumin. Invest New Drugs 33, 1175–1186 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-015-0296-5

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