Osthole induces apoptosis and suppresses proliferation via the PI3K/Akt pathway in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Osthole is a natural coumarin isolated from Umbelliferae plant monomers. Previous research has indicated that osthole exerts a wide variety of biological effects, acting as anti-seizure, anti-osteoporosis and anti-inflammation. However, the regulatory effect and related molecular mechanism of osthole in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remain unknown. In the present study, the authors found that osthole inhibited ICC cell lines in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Osthole also significantly induced mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis by upregulating Bax, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, and cleaved poly ADP-ribose polymerase expression, and by downregulating Bcl-2 expression. Moreover, the levels of p-Akt and PI3K were significantly decreased, while total Akt protein levels were unchanged. Following transfection with wild-type-Akt and constitutively active (CA)-Akt plasmids, the effects of osthole were decreased. Osthole was also able to suppress tumor growth in vivo. Together, these data demonstrated that osthole induces mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis via the PI3K/Akt pathway, suggesting that osthole may represent a novel and effective agent for the treatment of ICC.