AUTHOR=Xu Li-Na , Zhao Na , Chen Jin-Yan , Ye Piao-Piao , Nan Xing-Wei , Zhou Hai-Hong , Jiang Qi-Wei , Yang Yang , Huang Jia-Rong , Yuan Meng-Ling , Xing Zi-Hao , Wei Meng-Ning , Li Yao , Shi Zhi , Yan Xiao-Jian 

TITLE=Celastrol Inhibits the Growth of Ovarian Cancer Cells in vitro and in vivo

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2019.00002

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2019.00002

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p>Celastrol is a natural triterpene isolated from the Chinese plant Thunder God Vine with potent antitumor activity. However, the effect of celastrol on the growth of ovarian cancer cells <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> is still unclear. In this study, we found that celastrol induced cell growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase and apoptosis with the increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation in ovarian cancer cells. Pretreatment with ROS scavenger N-acetyl-cysteine totally blocked the apoptosis induced by celastrol. Additionally, celastrol inhibited the growth of ovarian cancer xenografts in nude mice. Altogether, these findings suggest celastrol is a potential therapeutic agent for treating ovarian cancer.</p>