Oleanolic acid modulates multiple intracellular targets to inhibit colorectal cancer growth.

Due to drug resistance and unacceptable cytotoxicity of most currently-used cancer chemotherapies, naturally occurring products have gained attention in the field of anticancer treatment. Oleanolic acid (OA) is a natural pentacyclic triterpenoic acid and a principal active compound in many medicinal herbs that have long been used to clinically treat various types of human malignancies. Using a colorectal cancer (CRC) mouse xenograft model and the cell line HT-29, we evaluated the effect of OA on tumor growth in vivo and in vitro, and investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms in the present study. We found that OA significantly inhibited tumor growth in volume and weight in CRC xenograft mice. In addition, OA treatment led to the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferation. OA significantly reduced the expression of Bcl-2, Cyclin D1 and CKD4, whereas Bax and p21 expression was profoundly increased after OA treatment. Furthermore, OA significantly suppressed the activation of Akt, p70S6K and MAPK signalings, but promoted p53 pathway activation. Collectively, findings from this study suggest that OA possesses a broad range of anticancer effects via modulation of multiple intracellular targets.