ZERUMBONE INHIBITS PROLIFERATION AND INDUCES APOPTOSIS, CELL CYCLE ARRESTIN HUMAN COLON CANCER CELLLINE, HCT15

Zerumbone is a natural cyclic sesquiterpene derived from the rhizome of Zingiber zerumbet Smith. Zerumbone has shown topossess anticancer properties in various types of carcinoma cells. The present study investigates the in vitro effect of zerumbone on colon cancer cell line HCT15. Cisplatin, a conventional chemotherapeutic drug was taken as a positive control. The cytotoxicity of zerumbone and cisplatin were determined using MTT tetrazolium salt assay. Zerumbone and cisplatin exhibited growth inhibition of HCT15 cells in a dose (0-100μg/ml) and time (24h, 48h, 72h) dependentmanner. Morphological analysis showed changes in the treated HCT15 cells. Fluorescent microscopic studies showed typical apoptotic features in treated cells. In addition, flow cytometry studies showed cancer cells arrest at G2/M phase by zerumbone. Overall, these results suggest that zerumbone can be a potent chemotherapeutic compound for the treatment of colon cancer.