Differential actions of selective frankincense essential oil versus non-selective sandalwood essential oil induced bladder cancer cell cytotoxicity: A microarray and bioinformatics approach

ABSTRACT: Background: Frankincense (Ru Xiang) and sandalwood (Tan Xiang) are ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine, and have been recognized as cancer preventive and therapeutic agents. Hydrodistillation of frankincense gum resins and sandalwood heartwood to prepare essential oils is a method to extract biologically active ingredients from these plant-derived products. This study was designed to differentiate frankincense (Boswellia carterii) and sandalwood (Santalum album) induced anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activities in cultured human bladder cancer cells. Methods: Frankincense and sandalwood essential oils-mediated cytotoxicity was studied in established human bladder cancer J82 cells and immortalized normal human bladder urothelial UROtsa cells using a colorimetric assay. Essential oils-activated gene expression and pathway activation in human bladder cancer J82 cells were identified using high density microarray and bioinformatics techniques. Results: Human bladder cancer cells were more sensitive to immortalized normal bladder cells with suppressed viability following frankincense essential oil exposure. In contrast, both cancerous and normal bladder cells responded to sandalwood essential with similar levels of cytotoxicity. Based on microarray and bioinformatics analyses, genes responsible for suppressing biological processes and apoptosis were induced in J82 cells by both essential oils. Although both frankincense and sandalwood essential oils activated common ontologies and canonical pathways leading to suppressed J82 cell viability and apoptosis, each essential oil had unique property on these cells. For example, heat shock proteins and histone core were ongologies regulated by frankincense essential oil, whereas transcription regulation and G-protein couple receptor were ontologies unique to sandalwood essential oil treatment. In addition, NRF-2 mediated oxidative stress was implicated as the primary cause of frankincense essential oil-induced J82 cell death; in contrast, DNA damage and cell cycle arrest might be attributed to sandalwood essential oil-mediated cytotoxicity. Conclusion: Based on cell biology and comprehensive gene expression analysis, our results provide a preliminary, yet focused characterization of genetic responses to frankincense and sandalwood essential oils with respect to their proposed anti-neoplastic properties. Modern biomedical technologies are powerful tools to study biological responses following treatments with traditional Chinese medicine, which always consist of complex chemical constituents.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE53171 | GEO | 2014/06/10

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA231078

REPOSITORIES: GEO