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Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry

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ISSN (Print): 1871-5206
ISSN (Online): 1875-5992

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Research Article

Antitumor Effects of L-citrulline on Hela Cervical Cancer Cell Lines

Author(s): Ceren Yildiz Eren*, Hulusi Goktug Gurer, Ozlem Ozgur Gursoy and Canan Vejselova Sezer

Volume 22, Issue 18, 2022

Published on: 10 August, 2022

Page: [3157 - 3162] Pages: 6

DOI: 10.2174/1871520622666220426101409

open access plus

Abstract

Aim: Cervical cancer is the deadliest gynecological malignancy. This study aims to examine the anticancer effects of L-citrulline on HeLa cell culture.

Materials and Methods: HeLa cells were cultured in complete Eagle's minimum essential medium. HeLa cells were seeded in 96-well plates and incubated with L-citrulline. After incubation, MTT dye was added and incubated. Annexin- V technique was used to test the apoptosis. The activated caspases of HeLa cells by L-citrulline exposure were measured with the Caspase 3/7 technique. One-way variance analysis was conducted for statistical analysis by using GraphPad Prism 6.0 for Windows.

Results: L-citrulline showed its toxicity on HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner in application times of 24 and 48 hours. The IC50 dose of L-citrulline was 0.19 and 0.16 mg/mL at 24 and 48 hours, respectively. When HeLa cells were exposed to an IC50 dose of L-citrulline for 24 hours, the percentages of the dead, early apoptotic, and late apoptotic cells were detected to be 0.75%, 23.05%, and 12.75%, respectively. The differences in the wideness of the scratch area were observed at the initial stage and after 24 hours of applying L-citrulline.

Conclusion: L-citrulline showed its toxicity on HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner. Based on Annexin and Caspase findings, it can be concluded that L-citrulline exerted a pro-apoptotic effect on HeLa cells in only a short exposure time. L-citrulline also showed a migration inhibitory effect. The findings of this study indicate L-citrulline to be worthy of investigation for its anticancer activities in vitro and in vivo, and as a candidate for cancer therapy.

Keywords: L-citrulline, HeLa, anticancer effects, MTT, Annexin-V, migration assay.

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