Usnic acid uses mitochondiral apopitotic pathway in its antitumoral role

SUMMARY Usnic acid is a secondary metabolite in lichens whose role has not been completely elucidated. Lichen extracts containing usnic acid have been utilized in medicine, perfumery, cosmetics, and ecology. In a recent manuscript, usnic acid was reported as an inhibitor in cell growth, inducing the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human lung carcinoma A549 cells. Herein we analyzed the antitumoral effect of usnic acid on the same cell line. Similar results were observed as in literature. We analyzed the gene expression results in the same panel which have possible role on cell apopitosis. As a result, usnic acid has stimulatory effect on APOPT1, CYCS, APAF1, CASP3, CASP9 gene expressions in our experiments. So, usnic acid has antitumoral effect on cancer cells, affecting on mithocondrial apopitotic genes. Key words: Usnic acid, cell growth, apopitosis, gene, antitumoral affect. OZET Usnik asit likenlerde bulunan halen rolu tam olarak ortaya konamamis bir sekonder metabolittir. Usnik asit iceren liken ekstraktlari tipta, parfum yapiminda, kozmetikte ve ekolojide kullanilmaktadir. Son bir yazida, insan akciger kanser A549 hucre hattinda usnik asit hucre dongusunun durdurulmasi ve apopitozis yoluyla hucre buyumesini durduran bir etken olarak tanimlanmistir. Calismamizda ayni hucre hattinda usnik asitin antitumoral etkisi bakilmistir. Literaturde olan ile benzer sonuclar ortaya konmustur. Ayni panel uzerinde hucre apopitozunda rolu olan genlerin ekspresyon analizine bakildi. Sonuc olarak, usnik asitin APOPT1, CYCS, APAF1, CASP3, CASP9 genleri uzerinde uyarici etkisi oldugu saptandi. Veriler usnik asitin kanser hucreleri uzerinde mitokondrial apopitotik genler araciligi ile antitumoral etki yaptigini ortaya koymaktadir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Usnik asit, hucre buyumesi, apopitoz, gene, antitumoral etki. Correspondance To: Prof. Dr. Şefik Guran Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi, Gulhane Tip Fakultesi, Tibbi Biyoloji AD. 06018 Etlik/Kecioren-ANKARA Phone: 03123043551