HO-3867, a synthetic curcumin analog, has displayed various tumor-suppressive characteristics and improved bioabsorption over its parent compound. However, its influences on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are poorly defined. To address this, we tested the anticarcinogenic impact of HO-3867 and investigated the underlying mechanisms in fighting liver cancer. Our result demonstrated that HO-3867 reduced the viability of HCC cells, accompanied by promotion of cell cycle arrest at the sub-G1 stage and apoptotic responses. Furthermore, a distinctive profile of apoptosis associated proteins, encompassing elevated heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) level and caspase activation, was detected in HO-3867-stimulated HCC cells. In addition, such HO-3867-mediated elevation in caspase activation was dampened by pharmacological suppression of p38 activities. Taken together, our findings unveiled that HO-3867 triggered cell cycle arrest and apoptotic events in liver cancer, involving a p38-mediated activation of caspase cascades. These data highlighted a usefulness of curcumin or its analogs on the management of hepatocarcinogenesis.

中文翻译：

---

HO-3867 是一种姜黄素类似物，可在肝细胞癌中引发细胞凋亡和 p38 介导的 caspase 激活


HO-3867 是一种合成姜黄素类似物，与母体化合物相比，显示出多种肿瘤抑制特性并改善了生物吸收。然而，其对肝细胞癌（HCC）发展的影响尚不清楚。为了解决这个问题，我们测试了 HO-3867 的抗癌作用，并研究了对抗肝癌的潜在机制。我们的结果表明，HO-3867 降低了 HCC 细胞的活力，同时促进细胞周期停滞在亚 G1 阶段和凋亡反应。此外，在 HO-3867 刺激的 HCC 细胞中检测到凋亡相关蛋白的独特特征，包括血红素加氧酶-1 (HO-1) 水平升高和 caspase 激活。此外，这种 HO-3867 介导的 caspase 激活升高因 p38 活性的药理抑制而受到抑制。总而言之，我们的研究结果揭示了 HO-3867 触发了肝癌中的细胞周期停滞和细胞凋亡事件，涉及 p38 介导的 caspase 级联激活。这些数据强调了姜黄素或其类似物在控制肝癌发生方面的有用性。