Withaferin A (WA) causes cell death in prostate cells.

Withaferin A (WA), a major chemical component of an Indian herb Withania somnifera, induces cell death (apoptosis/necrosis) in a variety of tumor cells, but its molecular mechanism remains elusive. We report that WA induces cell death selectively in high-grade prostate (PC-3 and DU-145) and tongue (SAS) cancer cells but not in normal human fibroblast (TIG-1) and low-grade prostate cancer (LNCaP) cells. To identify genes whose expression levels were up- or down-regulated in prostate cancer cells following WA treatment, we examined the transcriptome profiles of mRNA prepared from TIG-1, LNCaP, PC-3 and DU-145 cells using Agilent’s Whole Human Genome Microarray.