Tetraoxanes induced ROS production and activation of caspase 3 in HeLa cells

Abstract

It was demonstrated that mixed steroidal tetraoxanes inhibit cancer cell proliferation at micromolar level through an apoptotic mechanism. It will be interesting to see if these compounds may possibly induce oxidative stress, which could lead to induction of apoptosis in tumour cells. As tumour cells contain more iron than other normal tissues it is reasonable to suggest that tetraoxanes could react with iron, generating alkoxy radicals or even highly reactive hydroxyl radicals in a Fenton-like reaction. To gain further insight into the mechanism of cell death induced by tetraoxane endoperoxides, we tested production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and level of activation of caspase 3 in tumour cells treated with several newly synthesized tetraoxanes.