Britannin induces apoptosis through AKT-FOXO1 pathway in human pancreatic cancer cells.

Induction of apoptosis in cancerous cells is considered as a promising treatment option for cancer therapy. The present study was designed to evaluate the anticancer properties of Britannin and its possible mechanisms of action in human pancreatic cancer cells. Apoptosis induction by Britannin was confirmed by annexin V-FITC/PI staining, Hoechst 33258 staining and caspase-3 activity assay in both AsPC-1 and Panc-1 cells. Additionally, by using western blot and Real-time PCR, we observed that Britannin induced apoptosis by decreasing the expression of BCL-2 and increasing the expression of BAX. Moreover, Britannin increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in different intracellular sites of pancreatic cancer cells. Using western blot analysis, we observed that Britannin decreased the phosphorylated AKT and induced the nuclear accumulation of FOXO1 and also up regulation of FOXO-responsive target BIM in both pancreatic cancer cell lines. Taken together, we found that Britannin is able to induce mitochondrial apoptotic pathway through ROS production and modulation of the AKT-FOXO1 signaling axis in AsPC-1 and Panc-1 human pancreatic cancer cells. Our results can help to illuminate the molecular mechanisms underlying Britannin-induced cell death in pancreatic cancer cell lines and may potentially serve as an anticancer agent for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.