Background: Skin cancer is the type of cancer that is becoming an increasingly important public health problem worldwide. The treatment for skin cancer depends on the stage and location of cancer cells. Therefore, the new finding of anti-cancer compound as a therapeutic candidate for skin cancer is necessary.

Objective: To investigate the effect of artonin E on anti-proliferation and apoptosis induction in skin cancer epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells.

Material and Method: Cell viability and cell proliferation were determined by MTT assay. Nuclear morphological changes, mitochondrial membrane potential and protein expression were determined by Hoechst 33342 and JC-1 staining, respectively. Protein expression was determined by Western blot analysis.

Results: Artonin E showed anti-proliferation in A431 treated cells in a dose-dependent manner with an IC₅₀ value of 9.05±6.15 μg/ml. In addition, artonin E induced chromatin condensation and apoptotic bodies in A431 treated cells. JC-1 staining showed that artonin E induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Western blot analysis showed the upregulation of cleaved-caspaase-7 and cleaved-PARP in A431 treated cells.

Conclusion: In this study, artonin E showed anti-proliferation and apoptosis induction in A431 treated cells. Moreover, artonin E induced cleaved caspase-7 and cleaved-PARP activation in A431 cells, resulting in apoptosis cell death. Our results indicated that artonin E may be further developed as an anti-cancer drug and the underlying mechanisms of apoptosis induction in A431 cells should be studied.

Keywords: Skin cancer, Artonin E, Apoptosis, Anti-proliferation