The combination effect of andrographolide and taxifolin on cell proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and autophagy of HeLa cells

Abstract

Andrographolide (Andro), the major bioactive constituent of the Andrographis paniculata herba, has been recently shown to have potent cytotoxic effects in a dose dependent manner against different kinds of cancer cells. Andro was also shown to induce a prolong arrest of cells at G2/M phase with weak apoptosis induction and cell death in other cancer cell lines. In a few studies which used Andro in combination with other anticancer agents, Andro was found to increase the apoptosis rate in different kinds of cancer cells and also in multidrug resistant cancer cells. The traditional mono-target therapy protocol for cancer treatment is becoming increasingly ineffective and may lead cancer cells to develop acquired drug resistance due to the complex signaling pathways involved in cancer. Combination or multi-component therapy, in which one or more drugs are used at the same time, is a possible solution. This can be approached by combination of different mechanismbased agents to control multiple aberrant pathways in the cancer. On the other hand, flavonoids have been shown to play an important role in cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy. Many studies have pointed out the synergistic effects of flavonoids whenever used in combination with other flavonoids, natural compounds or chemotherapeutic drugs. Therefore, the present study investigated the cytotoxic effects of Andro alone or in combination with other flavonoids on HeLa cells. The results in the present study revealed that Andro in combination with different flavonoids (Taxifolin, Silibinin, Quercetin, Luteolin and Apigenin) had a better antiproliferation effect on HeLa …