Transcriptome pattern of U87 cell line after Hypericin treatment

Hypericin from Hypericum perforatum has cytotoxic effects on a varity of malignant cell types but the pattern of gene expression mediating this effect is largely unknown. Glioblastoma is the most frequently diagnosed primary form of brain cancer in adults. In this study, U87 glioblastoma cell line was treated with different doses of hypericin. Cytotoxicity was assessed using MTT and AnnexinV/PI assays. Gene expression profile of treated cells was obtained using high-throughput sequencing on Illumina HiSeq 4000 and analyzed using HISAT2, Cufflinks and Cuffdiff . The LD50 of hypericin on U87 cell line was determined to be 1.5 µg/ml for 24 hours treatment and the main type of cell death at this concentration was apoptosis. A total of 312 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were done on DEGs and significant terms were identified. Among down-regulated genes were CXCL8, GDF15, LIF, OLIG2, and ACTG2 that are known to be important in angiogenesis (CXCL8), proliferation (GDF15, Olig2), cellular self-renewal (LIF), migration and invasion (ACTG2). In conclusion, it seems that hypericin can target many tumor cellular processes in this cell line.