Abstract The α-
tomatine is a steroidal glycoalkaloid found in immature
tomatoes (
Lycopersicon esculentum ) that has important
biological functions including the inhibition of
cancer cell growth and preventing
metastasis . This study aimed to evaluate the effects of α-
tomatine on cytotoxicity,
cellular proliferation ,
apoptosis , and
mRNA expression of APC, CCNA2, β-
catenin , CASP9, BAK, BAX and BCL-XL in colorectal
adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29.
HT29 cells were treated with three concentrations of α-
tomatine (0.1, 1 and 10 µg/mL), although only the 1 µg/mL concentration of α-
tomatine was used to evaluate genetic expression patterns by real
time -
PCR . Results showed that α-
tomatine was cytotoxic only at the 10 µg/mL concentration.
Cell proliferation was significantly inhibited after the first 24 hours of
treatment only with concentrations of 10 µg/mL. In contrast, there were no significant differences in
apoptosis for any
treatment . In the
gene expression studies, only APC expression was significantly altered by α-
tomatine treatment . In conclusion, α-
tomatine has antiproliferative activity in the first 24h of
treatment , does not induce
apoptosis in this
cell line and causes disruption of
cell membranes , thereby increasing the expression of
APC gene related to
cell cycle .