Abstract

The clinical treatment of pancreatic cancer is confronted with problems such as high recurrence rate and limited efficacy of chemotherapy drugs. It is of great significance to search for highly efficient and low-toxicity natural anti-cancer compounds. Eugenol, as the core bioactive phenolic component of cloves, is endowed with unique biological activity by the phenolic hydroxyl, methoxy and allyl groups in its macromolecular structure. Electrochemical sensors, with their high sensitivity and real-time quantitative advantages, have become key tools for analyzing the structural-activity relationship between its structure and activity. This study aims to clarify the structural characteristics of eugenol macromolecules by means of electrochemical sensor technology and reveal its mechanism of anti-pancreatic cancer action. The electrochemical activity of eugenol and its correlation with macromolecular structure were systematically characterized by using electrochemical sensor techniques such as cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. Combined with CCK8 method, flow cytometry, Western blotting and nude mouse transplanted tumor model, its anti-pancreatic cancer effect in vivo and in vitro was explored. The results show that the electrochemical sensor detection clearly indicates that the phenolic hydroxyl group is the core electrochemical active site of eugenol. The methoxy group increases its electron cloud density through conjugation effect, and the allyl group enhances liposoluble. The three groups work together to promote the accumulation of ROS triggered by high-concentration eugenol (micro-molar level). It was further confirmed that eugenol disrupted the antioxidant system by down-regulating SOD and GSS, induced apoptosis of PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2 cells through the mitochondrial pathway mediated by ROS, and this effect could be reversed by NAC and Trolox,