Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester (CAPE) Synergistically Enhances Paclitaxel Activity in Ovarian Cancer Cells

Sep 24, 2026

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Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a phenolic compound found in propolis, is examined for its potential to improve ovarian cancer chemotherapy. The study evaluates whether combining CAPE with paclitaxel increases therapeutic effectiveness in three ovarian cancer cell lines (OV7, HTB78, and CRL1572). CAPE and paclitaxel are assessed for cytotoxicity, apoptosis induction, and anti-migration effects. Results show enhanced cytotoxicity and increased apoptotic cell percentages with the combined treatment, with effects dependent on CAPE dose and exposure duration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

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Pages22

Reading Time55 min

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Abstract

Introduction

molecules Article Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester (CAPE) Synergistically Enhances Paclitaxel Activity in Ovarian Cancer Cells Anna Kleczka 1, *, Radosław Dzik 2 and Agata Kabała-Dzik 1 Citation: Kleczka, A.; Dzik, R.; Kabała-Dzik, A. Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester (CAPE) Synergistically Enhances Paclitaxel Activity in Ovarian Cancer Cells. Molecules 2023, 28, 5813. [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[doi.org/10.3390/molecules28155813](doi.org/10.3390/molecules28155813) Academic Editors: Alessandro Attanzio and Luisa Tesoriere Received: 20 July 2023 Revised: 31 July 2023 Accepted: 31 July 2023 Published: 1 August 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Ostrogârska 30, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland; [adzik@sum.edu.pl](adzik@sum.edu.pl) 2 Department of Biosensors and Processing of Biomedical Signals, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Roosevelta 40, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland; [radoslaw.dzik@gmail.com](radoslaw.dzik@gmail.com) * Correspondence: [akleczka@sum.edu.pl](akleczka@sum.edu.pl); Tel.: +48-32-364-13-54 Abstract: Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) belongs to the phenols found in propolis. It has already shown strong antiproliferative, cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic activities against head and neck cancersand against breast, colorectal, lung and leukemia cancer cells. Ovarian cancer is one of the most dangerous gynecological cancers. Its treatment involves intensive chemotherapy with platinum saltsand paclitaxel (PTX) . The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the combined use of CAPE and paclitaxel increases the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents. The experiment was performed on three ovarian cancer lines: OV7, HTB78, and CRL1572 . The effect of the tested compounds was assessed using H-E staining, a wound-healing test, MTT and the cell death detection ELISAPLUS test. The experiment proved that very low doses of PTX (10 nM) showed a cytotoxic effect against all the cell lines tested. Also, the selected doses of CAPE had a cytotoxic effect on the tested ovarian cancer cells. An increase in the cytotoxic effect was observed in the OV7 line after the simultaneous administration of 10 nM PTX and 100 􀀖M CAPE. The increase in the cytotoxicity was dependent on the CAPE dosage (50 vs. 100 􀀖M) and on the duration of the experiment. In the other cell lines tested, the cytotoxic effect of PTX did not increase after the CAPE administration. The administration of PTX together with CAPE increased the percentage of apoptotic cells in the tested ovarian cancer cell lines. Moreover, the simultaneous administration of PTX and CAPE enhanced the anti-migration activity of the chemotherapeutic used in this study. Keywords: propolis; caffeic acid phenethyl ester; paclitaxel; ovarian cancer; apoptosis 1. Introduction Each year, approximately 240,000 women worldwide are diagnosed with ovarian cancer (OC) . Ovarian cancer ranks as the second most common type of gynecological cancer and has a low survival rate. The incidence of ovarian tumors continues to increase. For every seventy women, one will develop ovarian cancer, and up to one in one hundred will die from the disease. The reason for such an unfavorable prognosis is the late diagnosis of the disease. Ovarian cancer does not give clinical symptoms for a long time, and the reported abdominal pain, fatigue and problems with urination are not speciﬁc [1,2] . The treatment of ovarian cancer involves multi-stage chemotherapy preceded by a complete surgical operation. Unfortunately, patients often

FAQs

What is the main goal of the study?

To determine whether combining CAPE with paclitaxel increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy against ovarian cancer cells.

Which ovarian cancer cell lines were used?

The experiment was performed on three ovarian cancer lines: OV7, HTB78, and CRL1572.

How did the combination of CAPE and paclitaxel affect apoptosis and migration?

PTX together with CAPE increased the percentage of apoptotic cells and enhanced anti-migration activity compared with treatment by paclitaxel alone in the study.

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by Angel