Cancer has become an important cause of mortality and morbidity in the world. Over the past decades, biomedical research revealed insights into the molecular events and signaling pathways involved in
carcinogenesis and
cancer progression.
Matrix metalloproteinases (
MMPs) are a diverse family of
enzymes that can degrade various components of the extracellular matrix and are considered as potential diagnostic and prognostic
biomarkers for many
cancer types and
cancer stages. Recently, studies on the role of natural-origin active substances in the prevention of
cancer development gained importance. Among them, the α-
lipoic acid, which is commonly found in plants, displayed potent anti-proliferative effects on
cancer cell lines. However, the effect of the compound on the induction of apoptosis and
mRNA expression of
MMPs in human
prostate cancer cells remains unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-proliferative and apoptotic activity of α-
lipoic acid in human PC3 prostate
carcinoma cells considering different concentrations and exposure durations. The findings showed that, α-
lipoic acid significantly decreased PC3 cell viability with an IC50 value of 1.71 mM at 48 h (p < 0.05). Additionally, the compound significantly increased
Annexin-V binding in cells compared to control and induced a significant alteration in mitochondrial membrane potential and
caspase levels (p < 0.05). Furhermore, the RT-PCR analyses have revealed that α-
lipoic acid reduced MMP-9
mRNA expression in PC3 cells compared to the control (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study highlights that α-lipoic acid induced apoptosis in human PC3
prostate cancer cells and inhibited the MMP-9 gene at the
mRNA level, which is known to play a role in
metastasis development.