The evaluation of potent antitumor activities of shikonin coumarin-carboxylic acid, PMMB232 through HIF-1α-mediated apoptosis.

In current study, a series of shikonin derivatives were synthesized and its anticancer activity was evaluated. As a result, PMMB232 showed the best antiproliferation activity with an IC50 value of 3.25±0.35µM. Further, treatment of HeLa cells with a variety of concentrations of target drug resulted in dose-dependent event marked by apoptosis. What's more, the mitochondrial potential (Δym) analysis was consistent with the apoptosis result. In addition, PARP was involved in the progress of apoptosis revealed by western blotting. To identify the detailed role and mechanism of PMMB232 in the progression of human cervical cancer, we detected the expression of HIF-1α and E-cadherin in HeLa cells. Results showed that expression of HIF-1α was downregulated, while E-cadherin protein was upregulated. Meanwhile, glycolysis related protein PDK1 was decreased in HeLa cells. Conversely, the expression of PDH-E1α was upregulated. Docking simulation results further indicate that PMMB232 could be well bound to HIF-1α. Taken together, our data indicate that compound PMMB232 could be developed as a potential anticancer agent.