Betulinic acid exerts antitumor effects on acute promyelocytic leukemia cells possibly via hTERT downregulation

• Published in: Gene reports Vol. 26; p. 101435
• Main Authors: Anani, Hussein, Baluchi, Iman, Farsinejad, Alireza, Fatemi, Ahmad, Mirzaee khalilabadi, Roohollah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.03.2022
• Subjects: Acute promyelocytic leukemia; Betulinic acid; Telomerase; Telomerase; Acute promyelocytic leukemia; Betulinic acid
• ISSN: 2452-0144; 2452-0144
• DOI: 10.1016/j.genrep.2021.101435

In recent decades, arsenic trioxide (ATO) has become a highly promising chemotherapeutic medication for treating APL patients. Owing to its complications, researchers are enthusiastic about applying compounds with fewer side effects. Betulinic acid is a pentacyclic triterpene that is found throughout various plants. Due to the betulinic acid's anti-cancer capabilities, the present investigation aims to look into the betulinic acid's effects on the NB4 cell line. The APL cell line (NB4) was cultured with various betulinic acid concentrations. Afterward, the cell viability was appraised via MTT and trypan blue assays. In addition, the apoptosis and Gene expression were assessed using Annexin/7-AAD assay and qRT-PCR, respectively. According to our findings, betulinic acid decreased NB4 cells' viability and metabolic activity in a dose-dependent manner. In comparison to the control group, betulinic acid triggered regulated cell death in NB4 cells. Furthermore, following treatment with 80 g/ml betulinic acid, the hTERT gene's expression decreased by >90%. Given betulinic acid's anti-cancer properties, our findings suggest a viable therapeutic method for treating acute promyelocytic leukemia. •Betulinic acid is a natural compound with biological characteristic such as antitumor activity.•Betulinic acid showed anti-cancer properties against acute promyelocytic leukemia cells.•Antitumor activity of betulinic acid was highly selective against cancer cells.•It serves anticancer properties possibly through hTERT down-regulation.