Background: Artemisia species are important medicinal plants throughout the world. The present in vitro study, using a sesquiterpene lactone-bearing fraction prepared from Artemisia khorassanica (SLAK), sought to investigate anti-cancer properties of this plant and elucidate potential underlying mechanisms for the effects.
Materials and methods: Anti-cancer potential was evaluated by toxicity against human melanoma and fibroblast cell lines. To explore the involved pathways, pattern of any cell death was determined using annexin-V/PI staining and also the expression of Bax and cytochrome c was investigated by Western blotting.
Results: The results showed that SLAK selectively caused a concentration-related inhibition of proliferation of melanoma cells that was associated with remarkable increase in early events and over-expression of both Bax and cytochrome c.
Conclusions: The current experiment indicates that Artemisia may have anti-cancer activity. We anticipate that the ingredients may be employed as therapeutic candidates for melanoma.