Effects of ferulic acid, a major component of rice bran, on proliferation, apoptosis, and autophagy of HepG2 cells

Ferulic acid is an active substance that can inhibit the growth of cancer cells, and it also shows antioxidant activity. Previous studies examined the effect of ferulic acid as a nutritional supplement for inhibiting the proliferation and inducing the apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. However, the effect of ferulic acid on the induction of autophagy in hepatocellular carcinoma cells is unknown. We examined the effect of ferulic acid on the proliferation, apoptosis, and autophagy of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells. The results showed that treatment of cells with 100 μg/mL ferulic acid for 48 h led to altered morphology, disruption of nucleoli, and decreased cell proliferation. Ferulic acid increased the percentage of cells in S phase (19.99 % to 34.31 %), increased the percentage of apoptotic cells (3.2 % to 34.7 %), and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential. Western blotting indicated that ferulic acid also increased the levels of biomarkers of apoptosis and autophagy (caspase-3, cleaved-caspase-3, beclin-1, LC3-I/LC3-II, PINK-1, and Parkin). Thus, ferulic acid inhibited the proliferation and increased the apoptosis and autophagy of HepG2 cells. These results provide a theoretical basis for subsequent research on the use of ferulic acid to inhibit the growth of hepatoma cells and the development of functional foods using rice bran, which contains abundant ferulic acid.