Enhancement of CD3AK cell proliferation and killing ability by α-Thujone

•First report on the enhancement of CD3AK cell proliferation and killing activity by α-Thujone.•α-Thujone increases the expression of CD107a, p-Akt and p-ERK1/2.•Our findings provided that α-Thujone combined CD3AK cells in the treatment of colon cancer.

Thujone is a monoterpene ketone natural substance found mainly in wormwood and sage. Previous studies have shown that Thujone has various pharmacological effects, such as anti-tumor, analgesic, and insecticide. The effect of α-Thujone to human immune cells is still unknown. Our study focuses on investigating the effects and mechanism of α­Thujone to CD3AK (anti- CD3 antibody induced activated killer) cells proliferation and cytotoxicity to colon cancer cell lines. With cell proliferation and FCM assay, it is found that α­Thujone could significantly enhance CD3AK cell proliferation and expression of CD107a in a dose-dependent manner. The cytotoxicity to colon cancer cells detected by CCK-8 assay is also improved. The expressions of TNF-α and FasL detected with ELISA assay were not significantly changed. Mechanically, the study shows that α­Thujone could enhance the expression of p-ERK1/2 and p-Akt. In addition, α­Thujone has no cytotoxicity to HCT116 and SW620 cells proliferation. In a word, α­Thujone enhances CD3AK cell proliferation and cytotoxicity via the improvement of expression of CD107a, p-Akt and p-ERK1/2.