Delphinidin Increases the Sensitivity of Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines to 3-Bromopyruvate

• Main Authors: Natalia Pieńkowska, Grzegorz Bartosz, Paulina Furdak, Izabela Sadowska-Bartosz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: ovarian cancer; anthocyanidins; delphinidin; glycolytic inhibitors; 3-bromopyruvate
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/2/709

3-Bromopyruvic acid (3-BP) is a promising anticancer compound. Two ovary cancer (OC) cell lines, PEO1 and SKOV3, showed relatively high sensitivity to 3-BP (half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 18.7 and 40.5 µM, respectively). However, the further sensitization of OC cells to 3-BP would be desirable. Delphinidin (D) has been reported to be cytotoxic for cancer cell lines. We found that D was the most toxic for PEO1 and SKOV3 cells from among several flavonoids tested. The combined action of 3-BP and D was mostly synergistic in PEO1 cells and mostly weakly antagonistic in SKOV3 cells. The viability of MRC-5 fibroblasts was not affected by both compounds at concentrations of up to 100 µM. The combined action of 3-BP and D decreased the level of ATP and of dihydroethidium (DHE)-detectable reactive oxygen species (ROS), cellular mobility and cell staining with phalloidin and Mitotracker Red in both cell lines but increased the 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescein (DCFDA)-detectable ROS level and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial mass only in PEO1 cells. The glutathione level was increased by 3-BP+D only in SKOV3 cells. These differences may contribute to the lower sensitivity of SKOV3 cells to 3-BP+D. Our results point to the possibility of sensitization of at least some OC cells to 3-BP by D.