Beta-Elemene Triggers Ros-Dependent Apoptosis In Glioblastoma Cells Through Suppressing Stat3 Signaling Pathway

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive primary brain tumors with few treatment strategies. beta-Elemene is a sesquiterpene known to have broad spectrum antitumor activity against various cancers. However, the signaling pathways involved in beta-elemene induced apoptosis of glioblastoma cells remains poorly understood. In this study, we reported that beta-elemene exhibited antiproliferative activity on U87 and SHG-44 cells, and induced cell death through induction of apoptosis. Incubation of these cells with beta-elemene led to the activation of caspase-3 and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Western blot assay showed that beta-elemene suppressed phosphorylation of STAT3, and subsequently down-regulated the activation of p-JAK2 and p-Src. Moreover, pre-incubation of cells with ROS inhibitor N-acetyl-(L)-cysteine (NAC) significantly reversed beta-elemene-mediated apoptosis effect and down-regulation of JAK2/Src-STAT3 signaling pathway. Overall, our findings implied that generation of ROS and suppression of STAT3 signaling pathway is critical for the apoptotic activity of beta-elemene in glioblastoma cells.