肝细胞癌（HCC）是世界上导致癌症相关死亡的主要原因。HCC患者的不良预后是一个重大问题，因此需要为患者提供更好的治疗选择。姜黄素（Cur）是姜黄植物中具有抗增殖、凋亡和抗氧化特性的疏水性多酚。硼是人类营养中不可或缺的微量元素。五水合硼酸钠（NaB）是一种对癌症具有有效作用的硼衍生物。在本研究中，我们进行了体外实验和转录组分析，以确定NaB、Cur、胡椒碱（Pip）及其联合对两种不同HCC细胞系HepG2和Hep3B的反应。NaB和Cur以剂量和时间依赖的方式诱导了HepG2和Hep3B的细胞毒性，而Pip则没有显著的毒性效应。NaB、Cur和Pip的联合治疗对HCC细胞的细胞毒性、凋亡和细胞周期分析显示出协同效应。在体外研究后，我们对HepG2和Hep3B细胞中的NaB、Cur和Pip及其组合进行了RNA测序转录组分析。转录组分析揭示了NaB、Cur和Pip的联合治疗在两种HCC细胞中诱导了抗癌活性。© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. Poor prognosis of HCC patients is a major issue, thus, better treatment options for patients are required. Curcumin (Cur), hydrophobic polyphenol of the plant turmeric, shows anti-proliferative, apoptotic, and anti-oxidative properties. Boron is a trace element which is essential part of human nutrition. Sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (NaB), a boron derivative, is an effective agent against cancer. In the current study, we performed in vitro experiments and transcriptome analysis to determine the response of NaB, Cur, piperine (Pip) and their combination in two different HCC cell lines, HepG2 and Hep3B. NaB and Cur induced cytotoxicity in a dose and time dependent manner in HepG2 and Hep3B, whereas Pip showed no significant toxic effect. Synergistic effect of combined treatment with NaB, Cur and Pip on HCC cells was observed on cytotoxicity, apoptosis and cell cycle assay. Following in vitro studies, we performed RNA-seq transcriptome analysis on NaB, Cur and Pip and their combination on HepG2 and Hep3B cells. Transcriptome analysis reveals combined treatment of NaB, Cur and Pip induces anti-cancer activity in both of HCC cells.© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.