Quercetin induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in CD133+ cancer stem cells of human colorectal HT29 cancer cell line and enhances anticancer effects of doxorubicin

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Molecular Research Lab, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran

3 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Objective(s):The colorectal cancer stem cells (CSCs) with the CD133+ phenotype are a rare fraction of cancer cells with the ability of self-renewal, unlimited proliferation and resistance to treatment. Quercetin has anticancer effects with the advantage of exhibiting low side effects. Therefore, we evaluated the anticancer effects of quercetin and doxorubicin (Dox) in HT29 cancer cells and its isolated CD133+ CSCs.
Materials and Methods: The CSCs from HT29 cells were isolated using CD133 antibody conjugated to magnetic beads by MACS. Anticancer effects of quercetin and Dox alone and in combination on HT29 cells and CSCs were evaluated using MTT cytotoxicity assay and flow cytometry analysis of cell cycle distribution and apoptosis induction.
Results: The CD133+ CSCs comprised about 10% of HT29 cells. Quercetin and Dox alone and in combination inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in HT29 cells and to a lesser extent in CSCs. Quercetin enhanced cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction of Dox at low concentration in both cell populations. Quercetin and Dox and their combination induced G2/M arrest in the HT29 cells and to a lesser extent in CSCs.
Conclusion:The CSCs were a minor population with a significantly high level of drug resistance within the HT29 cancer cells. Quercetin alone exhibited significant cytotoxic effects on HT29 cells and also increased cytoxicity of Dox in combination therapy. Altogether, our data showed that adding quercetin to Dox chemotherapy is an effective strategy for treatment of both CSCs and bulk tumor cells.

Keywords


1.Todaro M, Alea MP, Di Stefano AB, Cammareri P, Vermeulen L, Iovino F, et al. Colon cancer stem cells dictate tumor growth and resist cell death by production of interleukin-4. Cell Stem Cell 2007; 1:389-402.
2.Samadder NJ, Curtin K, Wong J, Tuohy TM, Mineau GP, Smith KR, et al. Epidemiology and familial risk of synchronous and metachronous colorectal cancer: a population-based study in Utah. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2014; 12:2078-2084.
3.Safaee A, Moghimi-Dehkordi B, Pourhoseingholi MA, Vahedi M, Maserat E, Ghiasi S, et al. Risk of colorectal cancer in relatives: a case control study. Indian J Cancer 2010; 47:27-30.
4.O'Brien CA, Pollett A, Gallinger S, Dick JE. A human colon cancer cell capable of initiating tumour growth in immunodeficient mice. Nature 2007; 445:106-110.
5.Eramo A, Ricci-Vitiani L, Zeuner A, Pallini R, Lotti F, Sette G, et al. Chemotherapy resistance of glioblastoma stem cells. Cell Death Differ 2006; 13:1238-1241.
6.Ricci-Vitiani L, Fabrizi E, Palio E, De Maria R. Colon cancer stem cells. J Mol Med (Berl) 2009; 87:1097-1104.
7.Hermann PC, Huber SL, Herrler T, Aicher A, Ellwart JW, Guba M, et al. Distinct populations of cancer stem cells determine tumor growth and metastatic activity in human pancreatic cancer. Cell Stem Cell 2007; 1:313-323.
8.Yu SC, Ping YF, Yi L, Zhou ZH, Chen JH, Yao XH, et al. Isolation and characterization of cancer stem cells from a human glioblastoma cell line U87. Cancer Lett 2008; 265:124-134.
9.Dean M, Fojo T, Bates S. Tumour stem cells and drug resistance. Nat Rev Cancer 2005; 5:275-284.
10.Fulda S, Pervaiz S. Apoptosis signaling in cancer stem cells. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 2010; 42:31-38.
11.Sampieri K, Fodde R. Cancer stem cells and metastasis. Semin Cancer Biol 2012; 22:187-193.
12.Fan X, Ouyang N, Teng H, Yao H. Isolation and characterization of spheroid cells from the HT29 colon cancer cell line. Int J Colorectal Dis 2011; 26:1279-1285.
13.Feng HL, Liu YQ, Yang LJ, Bian XC, Yang ZL, Gu B, et al. Expression of CD133 correlates with differentiation of human colon cancer cells. Cancer Biol Ther 2010; 9:216-223.
14.Haraguchi N, Ohkuma M, Sakashita H, Matsuzaki S, Tanaka F, Mimori K, et al. CD133+CD44+ population efficiently enriches colon cancer initiating cells. Ann Surg Oncol 2008; 15:2927-2933.
15.Piao LS, Hur W, Kim TK, Hong SW, Kim SW, Choi JE, et al. CD133+ liver cancer stem cells modulate radioresistance in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Lett 2012; 315:129-137.
16.Zhang H, Zhang M, Yu L, Zhao Y, He N, Yang X. Antitumor activities of quercetin and quercetin-5',8-disulfonate in human colon and breast cancer cell lines. Food Chem Toxicol 2012; 50:1589-1599.
17.Du G, Lin H, Yang Y, Zhang S, Wu X, Wang M, et al. Dietary quercetin combining intratumoral doxorubicin injection synergistically induces rejection of established breast cancer in mice. Int Immunopharmacol 2010; 10:819-826.
18.Chen C, Zhou J, Ji C. Quercetin: a potential drug to reverse multidrug resistance. Life Sci 2010; 87:333-338.
19.Vidya Priyadarsini R, Senthil Murugan R, Maitreyi S, Ramalingam K, Karunagaran D, Nagini S. The flavonoid quercetin induces cell cycle arrest and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells through p53 induction and NF-κB inhibition. Eur J Pharmacol 2010; 649:84-91.
20.Chou CC, Yang JS, Lu HF, Ip SW, Lo C, Wu CC, et al. Quercetin-mediated cell cycle arrest and apoptosis involving activation of a caspase cascade through the mitochondrial pathway in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Arch Pharm Res 2010; 33:1181-1191.
21.Murakami A, Ashida H, Terao J. Multitargeted cancer prevention by quercetin. Cancer Lett 2008; 269:315-325.
22.Lee DH, Szczepanski M, Lee YJ. Role of Bax in quercetin-induced apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells. Biochem Pharmacol 2008; 75:2345-2355.
23.Tang SN, Singh C, Nall D, Meeker D, Shankar S, Srivastava RK. The dietary bioflavonoid quercetin synergizes with epigallocathechingallate (EGCG) to inhibit prostate cancer stem cell characteristics, invasion, migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. J Mol Signal 2010; 5:14.
24.Vermeulen L, de Sousa e Melo F, Richel DJ, Medema JP. The developing cancer stem-cell model: clinical challenges and opportunities. Lancet Oncol 2012; 13:83-89.
25. Momtazi-borojeni AA, Behbahani M, Sadeghi-aliabadi H. Antiproliferative activity and apoptosis induction of crude extract and fractions of avicennia marina. Iran J Basic Med Sci 2013; 16:1203-1208.
26.Abdolmohammadi MH, Fouladdel Sh, Shafiee A, Amin Gh, Ghaffari SM, Azizi E. Anticancer effects and cell cycle analysis on human breast cancer T47D cells treated with extracts of Astrodaucus persicus (Boiss.) Drude in comparison to doxorubicin. DARU 2008; 16: 112-118.
27.Kang TB, Liang NC. Studies on the inhibitory effects of quercetin on the growth of HL-60 leukemia cells. Biochem Pharmacol 1997; 54:1013-1018.
28.Avila MA, Velasco JA, Cansado J, Notario V. Quercetin mediates the down-regulation of mutant p53 in the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB468. Cancer Res 1994; 54:2424-2428.
29.Carvalho C, Santos RX, Cardoso S, Correia S, Oliveira PJ, Santos MS, et al. Doxorubicin: the good, the bad and the ugly effect. Curr Med Chem 2009; 16:3267-3285.
30.Ailles LE, Weissman IL. Cancer stem cells in solid tumors. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2007; 18:460-466.
31.Lee TJ, Kim OH, Kim YH, Lim JH, Kim S, Park JW,  et al. Quercetin arrests G2/M phase and induces caspase-dependent cell death in U937 cells. Cancer Lett 2006; 240:234-242.
32.Moorthi C, Kathiresan K. Curcumin- Piperine/ Curcumin–Quercetin/Curcumin- Silibinin dual drug-loaded nanoparticulate combination therapy: A novel approach to target and treat multidrug-resistant cancers. J Med Hypotheses and Ideas 2013; 7(1):15-20.
33.Kruyt FA, Schuringa JJ. Apoptosis and cancer stem cells: Implications for apoptosis targeted therapy. Biochem Pharmacol 2010; 80:423-430.
34.Shahveisi K, Mousavi SH, Hosseini M, Khajavi Rad A, Jalali SA, Rajaei Z, et al. The role of local renin-angiotensin system on high glucose-induced cell toxicity, apoptosis and reactive oxygen species production in PC12 cells. Iran J Basic Med Sci 2014; 17:613-621.