Magura Gamaethige, Sara Sanusi (2025) The investigation of the anticancer effect of artemisinin as monotherapy and combination therapy in cervical cancer cell line. (MSc(R) thesis), Kingston University, .
Abstract
Cancer cell migration and proliferation are critical processes in metastasis, making them important targets for therapeutic intervention. Despite advances in chemotherapy, effective treatments with minimal side effects are still required. Evidently, drug repurposing offers a promising approach for discovering new therapeutic uses for existing drugs, reducing development time and costs. This study investigates the potential of antimalarial drugs artemisinin (ARTM) and artesunate (ART) singly and in combination with cisplatin (CIS) on HeLa cell behaviour, focusing on cell viability, migration, apoptosis and YAP localisation. HeLa cells were treated with ARTM, ART and CIS at specific concentrations. Cellular survival and proliferative potential of HeLa cells were measured using cell viability and MTT assays, while migration was assessed using a scratch wound assay. YAP translocation was examined by seeding cells at different densities to have varying localisation and staining them for imaging using a confocal microscopy. Results showed that ARTM and ART significantly reduced cell viability and inhibited migration at specific concentrations, particularly when combined with CIS. Nuclear YAP levels were decreased following treatment with ARTM and ART singly and in combination with CIS. However, phosphorylation levels analysed from Western blots did not indicate YAP phosphorylation at the LATS dependant S127 site. This raised the possibility that YAP regulation may occur via the non-canonical integrin-activated SRC signalling pathway rather than through the canonical Hippo signalling pathway.
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