Antitumor Effect of the Chalcone Analogue, (E) -1-(4-Ethoxy-3-Methoxyphenyl) -5- Methylhex-1-En-3-One on HeLa Cell Line

Chalcones represent precursor compounds for flavonoids biosynthesis in plants. Chalcones, 1,3-diaryl-2-propen-1-ones, have unique chemical structure with conjugated double bonds and delocalized π-electron system on both aromatic rings. Various studies have shown that chemical structure of chalcone is responsible for their antitumor effect. In our study, we have examined the antitumor effect of chalcone analogue (E) -1- (4-ethoxy-3-methoxyphenyl) -5-methylhex-1-en-3-one (CH) on HeLa cells. The antitumor efficiency of different CH concentrations was compared to the antitumor effects of dehydrozingerone and cisplatin. The viability of the cells was evaluated using MTT assay; type of the cell death was evaluated by Annexin V-FITC/7-AAD staining using FACS analysis; morphology changes of treated cells were visualized and compared to untreated cells using phase contrast microscopy. The result of our research showed that CH have a stronger antitumor compared to the effect both of dehydrozingerone and cisplatin. Our results indicated that chalcone analogue induced cell death via activation of apoptosis more powerfully compared to the apoptosis induced with dehydrozingerone and cisplatin.