Synergistic anti-cancer effect of sodium pentaborate pentahydrate, curcumin and piperine on hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. Poor prognosis of HCC patients is a major issue, thus, better treatment options for patients are required. Curcumin (Cur), hydrophobic polyphenol of the plant turmeric, shows anti-proliferative, apoptotic, and anti-oxidative properties. Boron is a trace element which is essential part of human nutrition. Sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (NaB), a boron derivative, is an effective agent against cancer. In the current study, we performed in vitro experiments and transcriptome analysis to determine the response of NaB, Cur, piperine (Pip) and their combination in two different HCC cell lines, HepG2 and Hep3B. NaB and Cur induced cytotoxicity in a dose and time dependent manner in HepG2 and Hep3B, whereas Pip showed no significant toxic effect. Synergistic effect of combined treatment with NaB, Cur and Pip on HCC cells was observed on cytotoxicity, apoptosis and cell cycle assay. Following in vitro studies, we performed RNA-seq transcriptome analysis on NaB, Cur and Pip and their combination on HepG2 and Hep3B cells. Transcriptome analysis reveals combined treatment of NaB, Cur and Pip induces anti-cancer activity in both of HCC cells.