Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the principle histologic type of liver cancer, is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths globally. The prognosis of HCC is poor, and novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Aspergillumarin A is a dihydroisocoumarin derivative isolated from endophytic fungus in the roots of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. in our previous study, and its activities were largely unknown. In this study, it was found that the proliferation of HepG2 HCC cells was significant inhibited by the incubation with aspergillumarin A at 200 mu mol/L. Using flow cytometry, the cell cycle arrest at G(0)/G(1) phase was found to contribute to the inhibitory effect of aspergillumarin A. Further, the dysregulation of cyclins was observed in the results of real-time PCR and western blotting. Taken together, Aspergillumarin A inhibited HCC cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest at G(0)/G(1) phase, indicating aspergillumarin A as a novel agent candidate for HCC therapy.