Benzo(a)pyrene induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human choriocarcinoma cancer cells through reactive oxygen species-induced endoplasmic reticulum-stress pathway

Cigarette smoke (CS) contains over 60 well established carcinogens. In this study, we examined the effects of benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P), a main CS component, on the viability and apoptosis of JEG-3 and BeWo human choriocarcinoma cancer cell lines. An MTT assay confirmed that B(a)P decreased the cell viability of JEG-3 and BeWo cells in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, Western blot (WB) assay revealed that protein expression of cyclin D and cyclin E decreased, while protein expression of p21 and p27 was increased in response to B(a)P treatment for 48 h. The changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in JEG-3 and BeWo cells exposed to B(a)P were also measured by a dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCF-DA) assay, which revealed that ROS levels increased in response to B(a)P treatment for 48 h. WB assay also confirmed that each B(a)P treatment of JEG-3 and BeWo cells for 4 h promoted the expression of phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha protein (p-eIF2α) and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), which are known to be involved in ROS-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER-stress) related apoptosis. Overall, the protein expression of Bax (a pro-apoptosis marker) increased, while the expression of Bcl-xl (an anti-apoptotic marker) decreased and the number of apoptotic cells increased in response to B(a)P treatment for 48 h. Taken together, these results suggest that B(a)P has the potential to induce apoptosis of JEG-3 and BeWo human choriocarcinoma cancer cells by increasing the ROS level and simultaneously activating ER-stress.