Euxanthone exhibits anti-proliferative and anti-invasive activities in hepatocellular carcinoma by inducing pyroptosis: preliminary results.

OBJECTIVE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths. Euxanthone, a xanthone compound extracted from Polygala caudata, possesses a variety of pharmacological activities. This work aimed to explore whether euxanthone exhibits anti-cancer activities in HCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Tissue specimen was collected and the mRNA and protein expression of marker proteins were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. The viable cell number was assessed by CCK-8 assay. TUNEL assay was utilized to determine cell death. Cell migration was measured by Wound healing. Cell invasion was measured by transwell assay. Xenograft model was established to evaluate the efficacy of euxanthone in vivo. RESULTS: We demonstrated that HCC tissue and HCC cell line presented with lower expression of caspase-1, IL-1β, and IL-18. Euxanthone markedly suppressed the proliferation of HCC cells and induced cell death. In addition, euxanthone inhibited cell migration and invasion. Meanwhile, our results showed that euxanthone promoted cell death in a caspase-2 dependent manner. In vivo data also showed that euxanthone suppressed tumor growth and promoted pyroptotic cell death. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that that euxanthone may be a candidate of anticancer agent and provide clinical benefits for patients with HCC.