euxanthone and Ovarian-Neoplasms

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal).\ \ This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief and the corresponding author as panels from Figure 2A appear as similar to panels from Figure 3A of the article published by Xiangyang Dou, Meihua Wang, Tao Zhang and Jiapei Yao in The Anatomical Record (2019) https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24324 and Figure 2A of the article published by Qiang Wang, Yi Yan, Jie Zhang, Peng Guo, Yuqing Xing, Yong Wang, Fawei Qin and Qingyun Zeng in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 104 (2018) 28-35 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.05.013.\ \ Moreover, panels from Figure 2B appear as similar (after vertical mirroring) to panels from Figure 2A of the article published by Ning Wang, Fang Zhou, Jinhui Guo, Huaiyuan Zhu, Shanshui Luo and Jingjing Cao in Life Sciences 209 (2018) 498-506 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2018.08.052.\ \ Also, panels from Figure 7C appear as similar to panels from Figure 8D of the article published by Zichao Li, Luying Zhang, Mingquan Gao, Mei Han, Kaili Liu, Zhuang Zhang, Zhi Gong, Lifei Xing, Xianzhou Shi, Kui Lu and Hui Gao in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research 38:8 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1186/s13046-018-1012-z.\ \ Although this article was published earlier than the other articles, the Editor decided to retract this article given the concerns on the reliability of the data.\ \ The corresponding author acknowledged that some of the TUNEL, Flow Cytometry and Immunohistochemistry (IHC) measurements have been provided by third party entities.\ \ One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that authors declare explicitly that their work is original and has not appeared in a publication elsewhere. Re-use of any data should be appropriately cited. As such this article represents a severe abuse of the scientific publishing system. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.

Topics: Animals; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival; Female; Humans; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude; Ovarian Neoplasms; Random Allocation; Xanthones; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most prevalent gynaecological cancers. Euxanthone, an active ingredient of the medicinal plant Polygala caudata, exhibits a selective cytotoxic effect in tumour cells. The present study was aimed to determine whether euxanthone could suppress ovarian tumour growth, and to study the relevant mechanism. Two EOC cell lines, SKOV3 and A2780, were used as the in vitro model and treated with euxanthone. Cell viability and apoptosis were assayed using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and Annexin-V FITC/PI staining, respectively. Commercially available kits were used to measure the glucose consumption, lactate production, and intracellular ATP levels. Western blots assay was conducted to examine the level of apoptotic markers. To examine the roles of HK2 and STAT3 in the anti-tumour effect of euxanthone, cells were transfected with vectors overexpressing HK2 or STAT3, and assayed as above. Finally, SKOV3 cells were injected to mice models to appreciate the anti-neoplastic effect of euxanthone in vivo. We found that euxanthone impaired the cell viability and induced apoptosis via the intrinsic pathway in a concentration-dependent fashion in both SKOV3 and A2780 cells. Euxanthone also caused inhibition of glycolysis. Apoptosis and glycolysis inhibition was mediated by the downregulation of HK2, which in turn was a result of STAT3 inactivation. In vivo experiments also supported that euxanthone could exert anti-cancer activities without general toxicity. In conclusion, euxanthone triggered mitochondrial apoptosis and inhibited glycolysis in EOC cells.. Euxanthone triggered mitochondrial apoptosis and inhibited glycolysis in EOC cells. Our findings provide preliminary experimental data that support further studies on the potential therapeutic role of euxanthone in ovarian cancer.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; Caspase 3; Cell Line, Tumor; Female; Glycolysis; Hexokinase; Humans; Male; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude; Mitochondria; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Ovarian Neoplasms; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; Reactive Oxygen Species; STAT3 Transcription Factor; Xanthones