Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors and the second most frequent cause of cancer death worldwide. Crocin is a kind of bioactive constituent found in the stigmas of saffron, which has shown various pharmacological activities.
Methods: In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of crocin on gastric cancer AGS cells proliferation and explored the underlying mechanism. A series of methods were used including cell counting kit assay, gene microarray analysis, qRT-PCR, Celigo image cytometry, cell clone formation assay, Western blot, and cell xenograft growth in vivo.
Results: The results indicated that crocin inhibited AGS cells proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis. Further studies suggested that crocin decreased a series of genes expression, among which TPM4  gene downregulation inhibited the tumor cells proliferation and tumor growth in mice, and overexpression of TPM4  gene abolishes the inhibitory effect of crocin. Further study using microarray analysis suggested that knocking down of TPM4  altered genes related to the proliferation and apoptosis of cells.
Discussion: Crocin could inhibit the gastric cancer cells AGS cells proliferation by regulating TPM4  gene expression, and TPM4  may be a promising therapeutic target for GC treatment.
Keywords: gastric cancer, crocin, TPM4 , HER2