Anti-ovarian cancer actions and pharmacological targets of plumbagin

Ovarian cancer is a gynecological malignancy characterized with increasing death rate in the world. It is clinically reported that chemotherapy against ovarian cancer is still found with poor curative effect and potential side effect. Plumbagin is an emerging anti-cancer compound. Although some experimental findings of plumbagin anti-ovarian cancer activity are described, the pharmacological targets should be further explored. In this study, we aimed to investigate the underlying pharmacological activities and targets of plumbagin against ovarian cancer in vitro. As results, in silico docking analysis suggested plumbagin potently treating ovarian cancer through regulating pharmacological targets, including octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) and Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4). The preliminary experimental data showed that plumbagin treatment inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in cancer cells. In addition, decreased mRNA expressions of intracellular OCT4, PCNA, and elevated KLF4 mRNA activation were detected in plumbagin-treated cancer cells. Furthermore, immunostaining determination showed reduced OCT4-positive cells and increased KLF4-positive cells were observed following plumbagin treatments. To sum up, our current findings have preliminarily showed the anti-ovarian cancer benefits of plumbagin, and the pharmacological targets may be identified as KLF4 and OCT4 pathway. Thus, we conclude that plumbagin may be a bioactive compound for ovarian cancer treatment.