Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) and phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC)-mediated generation of reactive oxygen species causes cell cycle arrest and induces apoptosis via activation of caspase-3, mitochondria dysfunction and nitric oxide (NO) in human osteogenic sarcoma U-2 OS cells.

Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) and phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a member of the isothiocyanate family, have been shown to exhibit antineoplastic ability against many human cancer cells. In this study, we found that exposure of human osteogenic sarcoma U-2 OS cells to BITC and PEITC led to induce morphological changes and to decrease the percentage of viable cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. BITC and PEITC induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase at 48 h treatment and inhibited the levels of cell cycle regulatory proteins such as cyclin A and B1 in U-2 OS cells but promoted the level of Chk1 and p53 that led to G2/M arrest. BITC and PEITC induced a marked increase in apoptosis (DNA fragmentation) and poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) cleavage, which was associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and the activation of caspase-9 and -3. BITC and PEITC also promoted the ROS production in U-2 OS cells and the N-acetylcysteine (NAC, an antoxidant agent) was pretreated and then treated with both compounds which led to decrease the levels of ROS and increase the cell viability. Interestingly, BITC and PEITC promoted the levels of NO production and increased the iNOS enzyme. Confocal laser microscope also demonstrated that BITC and PEITC promoted the release of cytochrome c and AIF, suggesting that both compounds induced apoptosis through ROS, caspase-3 and mitochondrial, and NO signaling pathways. Taken together, these molecular alterations and signaling pathways offer an insight into BITC and PEITC-caused growth inhibition, G2/M arrest, and apoptotic death of U-2 OS cells.