Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Scoparone inhibits the growth of liver cancer cells by regulating MAPK signaling pathway

Xitao Liu¹, Jie Huang²

¹Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region 010059, China; ²Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunan Province 650101, China.

For correspondence:- Jie Huang Email: JieHuangghy@163.com Tel:+8615887118867

Accepted: 24 September 2022 Published: 28 October 2022

Citation: Liu X, Huang J. Scoparone inhibits the growth of liver cancer cells by regulating MAPK signaling pathway. Trop J Pharm Res 2022; 21(10):2093-2098 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v21i10.8

© 2022 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the possible effects of scoparone on the viability, apoptosis and motility of liver cancer cells, as well as the mechanism of action.

Methods: CCK-8 and colony formation assays were carried out to determine liver cancer cell viability, while flow cytometry (FCM) and Immunoblot assays were performed to evaluate cell apoptosis. Wound closure and Transwell assays were performed to determine the effect of scoparone on cell motility, while immunoblot assays were performed to assess the effect of the compound on MAPK pathway of liver cancer cells.

Results: Scoparone suppressed the viability of Hep3B2 and Huh-7 cells (p < 0.01), as well as the apoptosis and motility of the cells (p < 0.01). Furthermore, scoparone inhibited the growth of liver cancer cells via MAPK pathway.

Conclusion: Scoparone suppresses liver cancer cell growth via MAPK pathway, and is thus a promising drug for liver cancer treatment. However, in vivo studies are required to validate these findings.

Keywords: Scoparone, Liver cancer, Viability, Apoptosis, MAPK pathway