crocin enhances cisplatin-induced chemosensitivity in human cervical cancer cell line

Background: anti-tumor effects of crocin have been investigated in different tumors; however, its precise molecular mechanism is not exactly elucidated. objectives: in the present investigation, we have studied pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative properties of crocin and cisplatin combination on cervical cancer cells. methods: cell viability and apoptosis assays were monitored by mtt, hoechst 33258 staining methods, respectively. the expression levels of apoptotic related genes, including bax, bcl-2, p53 mrna, and mir-365 were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (qrt-pcr). using western blot, we have also assessed the protein expression of the above apoptotic genes. results: the results of this study demonstrated that the combination treatment of cells with crocin and cisplatin significantly reduced the proliferation of cancer cells and induced apoptosis. furthermore, the bax/bcl-2 ratio and the mrna level of p53 markedly increased in treated cells, whereas it decreased mir-365 expression, an upstream regulator of bcl2 and bax. conclusions: accordingly, crocin could be a potential candidate for more evaluations such as in vivo studies, since it shows a proper in vitro anticancer effect. it is also suggested that a combination of crocin and cisplatin could be applied as an effective and promising chemotherapy strategy.