Musk is widely used in clinical practice for its anti-
cancer properties. Here, we treated various types of
cancer using
musk to determine which
cancers are sensitive to
musk treatment. We also compared effects of native
musk and synthetic
musk ketone in
cancer cells. Furthermore, we investigated mechanisms underlying effects of
musk.
METHODS: Twenty two
cancer cell lines were treated with
musk. Cell proliferation and apoptosis analyses were carried out. Native
musk and synthetic
musk ketone were analyzed by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) assay. Differentially expressed genes were determined by microarray and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.
RESULTS: Native
musk strongly induced the growth repression and the apoptosis in the majority of
cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner, but distinct types of
cancer showed significantly different reactions.
Cancer cells which originated from epithelial cells showed higher sensitivity for
musk treatment. By contrast, leukaemia and
lymphoma cells were not sensitive. GC-MS analysis demonstrated that native
musk contains more than 30 contents in which
musk ketone is a major component; synthetic
musk ketone was consistent with natural
musk ketone, and the used sample of synthetic
musk ketone contained only sole component. Similar to native
musk, synthetic
musk ketone induced the growth repression and the apoptosis of
cancer cells. Additionally, numerous genes were differentially expressed in
lung cancer cells after native
musk treatment. These differentially expressed genes were involved in many signalling pathways. Among these pathways, apoptosis-related pathways included
interleukin family,
tumor necrosis factor family, and MAPK signalling pathway. Native
musk and synthetic
musk ketone can up-regulate IL-24 (
interleukin family) and DDIT3 (MAPK signalling pathway) in
lung cancer cells.
CONCLUSIONS: This research provided strong evidence that native
musk and synthetic
musk ketone can induce the growth repression and the apoptosis of
cancer cells. However, the selection of sensitive
cancer patient for individualized treatment is a key step in clinical application. Synthetic
musk ketone can substitute for native
musk to treat
cancer patients.
Musk might induce the growth repression and the apoptosis of
lung cancer cells through up-regulating IL-24 and DDIT3 expressions.