Proteomic analysis of evodiamine-induced cytotoxicity in thyroid cancer cells.

Evodiamine is a natural product extracted from herbal plants such as Tetradium which has shown to have anti-fat uptake and anti-proliferation properties. However, the effects of evodiamine on the behavior of thyroid cancers are largely unknown. To determine if evodiamine might be useful in the treatment of thyroid cancer and its cytotoxic mechanism, we analyzed the impact of evodiamine treatment on differential protein expression in human thyroid cancer cell line ARO using lysine-labeling two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) combined with mass spectrometry (MS). This study demonstrated 77 protein features that were significantly changed in protein expression and revealed evodiamine-induced cytotoxicity in thyroid cancer cells involves dysregulation of protein folding, cytoskeleton, cytoskeleton regulation and transcription control. Our work shows that this combined proteomic strategy provides a rapid method to study the molecular mechanisms of evodiamine-induced cytotoxicity in thyroid cancer cells. The identified targets may be useful for further evaluation as potential targets in thyroid cancer therapy.