Ethacridine Induces Apoptosis and Differentiation in Thyroid Cancer Cells In Vitro

  • Anticancer Res. 2019 Aug;39(8):4095-4100. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.13567.
Tung-Sun Huang  1  2 ,  Jie-Jen Lee  2 ,  Ying-Syuan Li  2  3 ,  Shih-Ping Cheng  4  3  5
Affiliations
  • 1. Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
  • 2. Department of Surgery, MacKay Memorial Hospital and Mackay Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
  • 3. Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
  • 4. Department of Surgery, MacKay Memorial Hospital and Mackay Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. [email protected].
  • 5. Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
PMID: 31366493 DOI: 10.21873/anticanres.13567
Abstract

Background/aim: Ethacridine is used as a topical antiseptic as well as for second-trimester abortion. Recent studies showed that ethacridine is an inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) and an activator of the transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ). This study examined the effects of ethacridine on thyroid Cancer cells.

Materials and methods: Thyroid Cancer cell lines (FTC133 and SW1736) and thyroid follicular epithelial cells (Nthy-ori 3-1) were treated with ethacridine. Viability, clonogenicity, cell-cycle distribution, and Apoptosis were evaluated. The expression of thyroid differentiation markers (TTF-1, PAX8, and NIS) was determined by Real-Time PCR.

Results: Ethacridine suppressed cell growth and clonogenic ability of thyroid Cancer cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner (p<0.001). No cell-cycle arrest was found, but ethacridine dose-dependently induced Apoptosis of thyroid Cancer cells (p<0.001). The PAX8 and NIS expressions were significantly increased in SW1736 (3.41-fold and 1.53-fold, respectively) and Nthy-ori 3-1 cells (2.73-fold and 4.12-fold, respectively).

Conclusion: Ethacridine elicits apoptotic cell death in thyroid Cancer cells and promotes differentiation in a subset of thyroid follicular cells.

Keywords
Ethacridine; apoptotic cell death; thyroid cancer cells.
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