Oleiferoside W from the roots of <i>Camellia oleifera</i> C. Abel, inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in A549 cells

<p><i>Camellia oleifera</i> C<i>.</i> Abel has been widely cultivated in China, and a group of bioactive constituents such as triterpeniod saponin have been isolated from <i>C. oleifera</i> C. Abel<i>.</i> In the current study, a new triterpeniod saponin was isolated from the EtOH extract of the roots of <i>C. oleifera</i> C. Abel, named as oleiferoside W, and the cytotoxic properties of oleiferoside W were evaluated in non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells. At the same time the inducing apoptosis, the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ), the up-regulation of related pro-apoptotic proteins, such as cleaved-PARP, cleaved-caspase-3, and the down-regulation of anti-apoptotic marker Bcl-2/Bax were measured on oleiferoside W. Furthermore, the function, inducing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis, of oleiferoside W could be reversed by N-acetylcysteine (NAC). In conclusion, our findings showed that oleiferoside W induced apoptosis involving mitochondrial pathway and increasing intracellular ROS production in the A549 cells, suggesting that oleiferoside W may have the possibility to be a useful anticancer agent for therapy in lung cancer.</p