Inhibitory Effects of Total Triterpenoid Saponins Isolated from the Seeds of the Tea Plant (Camellia sinensis) on Human Ovarian Cancer Cells

Ovarian cancer is regarded as one of the most severe malignancies for women in the world. Death rates have remained steady over the past five decades, due to the undeniable inefficiency of the current treatment in preventing its recurrence and death. The development of new effective alternative agents for ovarian cancer treatment is becoming increasingly critical. Tea saponins (TS) are triterpenoidsaponins composed of sapogenins, glycosides, and organic acids, which possess a variety of pharmacological activities, and have shown promise in the anti-cancer field. Through cell CellTiter 96(®) Aqueous One Solution Cell Proliferation assay (MTS) assay, colony formation, Hoechst 33342 staining assay, caspase-3/7 activities, flow cytometry for apoptosis analysis, and Western blot, we observed that TS isolated from the seeds of tea plants, Camellia sinensis, exhibited strong anti-proliferation inhibitory effects on OVCAR-3 and A2780/CP70 ovarian cancer cell lines. Our results indicate that TS may selectivity inhibit human ovarian cancer cells by mediating apoptosis through the extrinsic pathway, and initiating anti-angiogenesis via decreased VEGF protein levels in a HIF-1α-dependent pathway. Our data suggests that, in the future, TS could be incorporated into a potential therapeutic agent against human ovarian cancer.