Alpha-Hederin, the Active Saponin of Nigella sativa, as an Anticancer Agent Inducing Apoptosis in the SKOV-3 Cell Line.

Alpha-hederin (α-HN), a pentacyclic triterpene saponin, has recently been identified as one of the active compounds of Nigella sativa, as a potential anticancer agent. However, no extensive studies on α-HN have been done as yet, as it was in the case of thymoquinone-the main ingredient of the N. sativa essential oil. To our knowledge, there are also no data available on how α-HN acts on the human cancer ovarian cell line SKOV-3. In this study we attempt to present the cytotoxic influence of α-HN on the SKOV-3 cell line by means of two methods: Real-Time xCELLigence and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The obtained IC50 values are 2.62 ± 0.04 μg/mL and 2.48 ± 0.32 μg/mL, respectively. An induction of apoptosis in SKOV-3 cells was confirmed by staining cellular nuclei with Hoechst 33342 dye and by flow cytometry analysis by binding annexin V to the cell membranes. We found that α-HN induces apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. In the first stages of apoptosis, the mitochondrial membrane potential was found to decrease. Also, inactivation of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was observed, as well as the caspase-9 and then caspase-3/7 activation. In addition, the treatment of SKOV-3 cells with α-HN induced the cell cycle arrest of cancer cells in G0/G1 phase. The results of our investigations indicate that α-HN induces apoptosis in the SKOV-3 cell line and that the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway is involved in the programmed cancer cell death.