Diosgenin, a natural steroidal sapogenin, has recently attracted a high amount of attention, as an effective anticancer agent in ovarian cancer. However, diosgenin mediated anticancer impacts are still not completely understood. Thus, the present study evaluated the effect of diosgenin on the proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis of ovarian cancer cells. OVCAR‐3 and SKOV‐3 cells were treated with diosgenin, cellular viability was assessed by MTT assay and apoptosis was measured by ELISA and evaluated the protein expression levels of apoptotic markers through western blotting. Cell migration was examined by measuring the mRNA levels of genes involved in the cell invasion. The protein expression levels of main components of PI3K signaling were evaluated via western blotting. Diosgenin led to significant inhibition of cellular proliferation in a dose‐dependent manner. It also induced apoptosis through upregulating pro‐apoptotic markers and downregulating antiapoptotic mediators. In addition, OVCAR‐3 cells exposure to diosgenin decreased cell migration and invasion. More importantly, diosgenin downregulated the expression levels of main proteins in PI3K signaling including PI3K, Akt, mTOR, and GSK3. Diosgenin inhibited the proliferation and migration of OVCAR‐3 ovarian cancer cells and induced apoptosis, which may be mediated by targeting PI3K signaling.

中文翻译：

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薯蓣皂苷元通过上调 PTEN 抑制卵巢癌细胞的增殖和迁移并诱导细胞凋亡

薯蓣皂苷元是一种天然甾体皂苷元，作为卵巢癌的有效抗癌剂，最近引起了高度关注。然而，薯蓣皂苷元介导的抗癌作用仍未完全了解。因此，本研究评估了薯蓣皂苷元对卵巢癌细胞增殖、凋亡和转移的影响。用薯蓣皂苷元处理 OVCAR-3 和 SKOV-3 细胞，通过 MTT 法评估细胞活力，通过 ELISA 测定细胞凋亡，并通过蛋白质印迹评估细胞凋亡标志物的蛋白表达水平。通过测量参与细胞侵袭的基因的 mRNA 水平来检查细胞迁移。通过蛋白质印迹法评估 PI3K 信号传导主要成分的蛋白表达水平。薯蓣皂苷元以剂量依赖性方式显着抑制细胞增殖。它还通过上调促凋亡标记物和下调抗凋亡介质来诱导细胞凋亡。此外，OVCAR-3细胞暴露于薯蓣皂苷元会减少细胞迁移和侵袭。更重要的是，薯蓣皂苷元下调 PI3K 信号传导中主要蛋白的表达水平，包括 PI3K、Akt、mTOR 和 GSK3。薯蓣皂苷元抑制 OVCAR-3 卵巢癌细胞的增殖和迁移并诱导细胞凋亡，这可能是通过靶向 PI3K 信号传导介导的。