Antiproliferative Effects of the Triterpene Ursolic Acid Natural Product in Bladder and Ovarian Tumor Cell Lines

Bladder and ovarian cancers impose a significant burden on healthcare systems due to their high incidence, mortality rates, and the challenges associated with early diagnosis. Current chemotherapy regimens, which typically involve combinations of drugs, often cause severe side effects that negatively impact patient adherence and treatment efficacy. Recently, studies have explored the use of herbal medicines to mitigate the adverse effects of chemotherapy. One such herbal compound is ursolic acid (UA), a triterpene known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor properties. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of UA on bladder and ovarian cancer cells harboring TP53 mutations through various assays, including cytotoxicity, clonogenic survival, cell migration, morphological changes, apoptosis, cell cycle analysis, JHDM1D expression and selectivity using MRC-5 cells, along with in silico evaluation. The treatment demonstrated selectivity for tumoral cells and significant antiproliferative effects in both cell types, leading to decreased cell viability, reduced colony-forming ability, inhibited cell migration, morphological changes characteristic of cell death, and increased expression of JHDM1D. In conclusion, UA exhibited antiproliferative activity against bladder and ovarian cancer cell lines with different TP53 mutation sites, suggesting its potential as a promising therapeutic alternative. Moreover, our study demonstrated for the first time the presence of UA in the species F. formosa.