Effect of multi-strain probiotics on enhancing apoptosis in lung cancer cells A549.

[INTRODUCTION] Apoptosis is an important pathway for regulating cell proliferation and the occurrence of cancers such as lung cancer. The release of Caspase-9 and activation of Caspase-3 influence the process of apoptosis in lung cancer cells, making these proteins markers of apoptosis in lung cancer cells. Multi-strain probiotics show increased benefits due to the combined effects of different strains. The probiotic metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), become important metabolites in lung immunity. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of multi-strain probiotics in increasing apoptosis through increasing Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 expression in A549 cultures.

[MATERIAL AND METHODS] The study was conducted in vitro using a cytotoxic assay to determine the IC50 value of multistrain probiotics, followed by an In Cell Western assay to assess Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 expression.

[RESULTS] The cytotoxic assay IC result of the multi-strain probiotic was 58.952 ppm. Based on the result of the cytotoxic assay, the multi-strain probiotic in this study is not toxic to A549 lung cancer cells. In the Cell Western assay results, the multi-strain probiotic at concentrations of 2xIC and 0.5xIC showed the highest Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 expression, respectively, compared to the control group.

[CONCLUSION] Multi-strain probiotics can stimulate the expression of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 proteins in A549 lung cancer.