Sesamin Acts as Anti-leukemic Compound Interacting with NovelPhosphoprotein Targets and Inducing Apoptosis in Leukemic Cells

Leukemia is one of the high
-incidence cancers that is characterized by an abnormal production of
immature white blood cells. Subject to many reports on the side effects of conventional
chemotherapy, herbs and natural compounds have been studied as an alternative medicine. In this
study, sesamin, a lignan in sesame seed with pharmaceutical functions including anti
-cancer, was
chosen and treated with MOLT
-4 and NB4 leukemic cell lines in various concentrations for 24
and 48 hours. The effect of sesamin on cell inhibition and expression levels of apoptotic genes in
leukemic cell lines were investigated by MTT assay and real
-time PCR, respectively. Moreover,
apoptotic proteins were studied by mass spectrometry and bioinformatics tools to investigate the
relation between sesamin and targeted proteins. Results showed that sesamin increased cell
inhibition in both cell lines in dose
- and time
-dependent manner. Levels of caspase
-3,
-7,
-8, and
-9 gene expressions significantly increased, while BCL
-2 decreased drastically in sesamin
-treated
cells. From bioinformatics study, PARP4, IPPK and caspase family proteins were found to be
involved in sesamin that induced apoptosis in leukemic cells. Besides, doxorubicin, a
chemotherapeutic drug, also shared the same protein targets as sesamin in apoptosis pathway.
Sesamin demonstrates its potential to enhance cell inhibition and promotes cell apoptosis in both
MOLT
-4 and NB4 leukemic cell lines. This study will benefit the development of sesamin as an
effective anti
-leukemia drug in the future