Calcarea carbonica induces apoptosis in cancer cells in p53-dependent manner via an immuno-modulatory circuit.

BACKGROUND: Complementary medicines, including homeopathy, are used by many patients with cancer, usually alongside with conventional treatment. However, the molecular mechanisms underneath the anti-cancer effect, if any, of these medicines have still remained unexplored. To this end we attempted to evaluate the efficacy of calcarea carbonica, a homeopathic medicine, as an anti-cancer agent and to delineate the detail molecular mechanism(s) underlying calcerea carbonica-induced tumor regression. METHODS: To investigate and delineate the underlying mechanisms of calcarea carbonica-induced tumor regression, Trypan blue dye-exclusion test, flow cytometric, Western blot and reverse transcriptase-PCR techniques were employed. Further, siRNA transfections and inhibitor studies were used to validate the involvement of p53 pathway in calcarea carbonica-induced apoptosis in cancer cells. RESULTS: Interestingly, although calcarea carbonica administration to Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC)- and Sarcoma-180 (S-180)-bearing Swiss albino mice resulted in 30-35% tumor cell apoptosis, it failed to induce any significant cell death in ex vivo conditions. These results prompted us to examine whether calcarea carbonica employs the immuno-modulatory circuit in asserting its anti-tumor effects. Calcarea carbonica prevented tumor-induced loss of effector T cell repertoire, reversed type-2 cytokine bias and attenuated tumor-induced inhibition of T cell proliferation in tumor-bearing host. To confirm the role of immune system in calcarea carbonica-induced cancer cell death, a battery of cancer cells were co-cultured with calcarea carbonica-primed T cells. Our results indicated a "two-step" mechanism of the induction of apoptosis in tumor cells by calcarea carbonica i.e., (1) activation of the immune system of the host; and (2) induction of cancer cell apoptosis via immuno-modulatory circuit in p53-dependent manner by down-regulating Bcl-2:Bax ratio. Bax up-regulation resulted in mitochondrial transmembrane potential loss and cytochrome c release followed by activation of caspase cascade. Knocking out of p53 by RNA-interference inhibited calcarea carbonica-induced apoptosis thereby confirming the contribution of p53. CONCLUSION: These observations delineate the significance of immuno-modulatory circuit during calcarea carbonica-mediated tumor apoptosis. The molecular mechanism identified may serve as a platform for involving calcarea carbonica into immunotherapeutic strategies for effective tumor regression.

Sulphur alters NFκB-p300 cross-talk in favour of p53-p300 to induce apoptosis in non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Adverse side effects of chemotherapy during cancer treatment have shifted considerable focus towards therapies that are not only targeted but are also devoid of toxic side effects. We evaluated the antitumorigenic activity of sulphur, and delineated the molecular mechanisms underlying sulphur-induced apoptosis in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cells. A search for the underlying mechanism revealed that the choice between the two cellular processes, NFκBp65-mediated survival and p53-mediated apoptosis, was decided by the competition for a limited pool of transcriptional coactivator protein p300 in NSCLC cells. In contrast, sulphur inhibited otherwise upregulated survival signaling in NSCLC cells by perturbing the nuclear translocation of p65NFκB, its association with p300 histone acetylase, and subsequent transcription of Bcl-2. Under such anti-survival condition, induction of p53-p300 cross-talk enhanced the transcriptional activity of p53 and intrinsic mitochondrial death cascade. Overall, the findings of this preclinical study clearly delineated the molecular mechanism underlying the apoptogenic effect of the non-toxic homeopathic remedy, sulphur, in NSCLC cells.

Contribution of the ROS-p53 feedback loop in thuja-induced apoptosis of mammary epithelial carcinoma cells.

The adverse side-effects associated with chemotherapy during cancer treatment have shifted considerable focus towards therapies that are targeted but devoid of toxic side-effects. In the present study, the antitumorigenic activity of thuja, the bioactive derivative of the medicinal plant Thuja occidentalis, was evaluated, and the molecular mechanisms underlying thuja-induced apoptosis of functional p53-expressing mammary epithelial carcinoma cells were elucidated. Our results showed that thuja successfully induced apoptosis in functional p53-expressing mammary epithelial carcinoma cells. Abrogation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), prevention of p53-activation, knockdown of p53 or inhibition of its functional activity significantly abridged ROS generation. Notably, under these conditions, thuja-induced breast cancer cell apoptosis was reduced, thereby validating the existence of an ROS-p53 feedback loop. Elucidating this feedback loop revealed bi-phasic ROS generation as a key mediator of thuja-induced apoptosis. the first phase of ROS was instrumental in ensuring activation of p53 via p38MAPK and its nuclear translocation for transactivation of Bax, which induced a second phase of mitochondrial ROS to construct the ROS-p53 feedback loop. Such molecular crosstalk induced mitochondrial changes i) to maintain and amplify the thuja signal in a positive self-regulatory feedback manner; and ii) to promote the mitochondrial death cascade through cytochrome c release and caspase-driven apoptosis. These results open the horizon for developing a targeted therapy by modulating the redox status of functional p53-expressing mammary epithelial carcinoma cells by thuja.