Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary malignant tumor of the liver, and its incidence is increasing worldwide. There is a need to develop new therapeutic strategies to treat the disease. In this study, we synthesised the oxime derivative of thymoquinone and investigated cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and apoptosis in hepatocellular cancer cells. The synthesised thymoquinone-oxime structure was confirmed by NMR. After incubating the hepatocellular cancer cell line for 24 h, the cytotoxicity ATP by luminometric, intracellular reactive oxygen species, and intracellular calcium by fluorometric. The mitochondrial membrane potential was determined by flow cytometry. DNA damage by alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis, and apoptosis damage by acridine orange/ethidium bromide double dye method. Concentrations of thymoquinone-oxime statistically increased cytotoxicity, intracellular reactive oxygen species, intracellular calcium, apoptosis, and DNA damage in a concentration-dependent manner. Mitochondrial membrane potential and glutathione levels are also decreased. These findings show that thymoquinone-oxime has an anti-tumor effect on hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
HIGHLIGHT
Among many herbs, Black seed (Nigella sativa) belonging to the Ranunculaceae family has been recognised worldwide as one of the most valuable nutrient-rich herbs
There is no relevant data on the effect of the newly synthesised oxime derivative of TQ (TQ-ox) in cancer cells HEP-G2
A new TQ derivative has a higher anti-tumor effect on hepatocellular carcinoma
Disclosure statement
The authors certify that they have no conflicts of interest or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the research presented in this study.