Chelerythrine induced cell death through ROS-dependent ER stress in human prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer is the most common noncutaneous cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and the third in USA in 2017. Chelerythrine (CHE), a naturalbenzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloid, formerly identified as a protein kinase C inhibitor, has also shown anticancer effect through a number of mechanisms. Herein, effect and mechanism of the CHE-induced apoptosis via reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in prostate cancer cells were studied for the first time