Cannabinol inhibits proliferation and induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in glioblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and breast cancer cells

Cannabis sativa is an agriculturally and medicinally important plant with many pharmaceutical properties. Cancer is a deadly disease; it is estimated that it will cause over 80 thousand deaths in 2019 in Canada. Although numerous studies have demonstrated that cannabinoids have anti-tumorous properties in various cancers, the anti-malignant activities of cannabinol (CBN) on carcinogenesis and underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, we provide evidence that CBN inhibits proliferation of A172, HB8065 and HCC1806 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. CBN regulates expression of cannabinoid receptors, CB2, GPR55 and GPR18 in different cell lines, while reducing levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2 in HCC1806 and phosphorylated AKT in A172 and HB8065 cells. We find that CBN induces apoptosis through downregulation of p21 and p27 and a G1 or S-phase cell cycle arrest through a dose-dependent downregulation of cyclin E1, CDK1 and CDK2. These data support the medicinal potential of CBN in anti-cancer therapy.

Authors

• Zhong, Nuanying
• University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science

• Cancer cells
• Cannabinoids
• Cannabis — Therapeutic use
• Carcinogenesis
• Marijuana — Therapeutic use
• Medical Marijuana — therapeutic use

Identifier

hdl:10133/5697

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:opus.uleth.ca:10133/5697