SCREENING OF BIOPROTECTIVE PROPERTIES OF VARIOUS PLANT EXTRACTS AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY PROFILING OF ADENANTHERA PAVONINA STEM EXTRACT

Objective: The search for various phytotherapeutic compounds is on rise due to a complex multifactorial phenomenon called drug resistance. The present study investigates the cytotoxic, antioxidant, and antiproliferative potential of methanolic extracts of Clitorea ternatea, Averrhoa bilimbi, Phyllanthus acidus, Tecoma stans, Curcuma aromatica, Anethum graveolens, Adhatoda vasica, Markhamia lutea, Spathodea companulata, and Adenanthera pavonina.Methods: The plant parts were extracted with methanol and screened for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) free radical scavenging abilities. The cytotoxic activity of the extracts was investigated on HeLa and HCT116 cells through 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol2yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry to determine the antiproliferative activity of the extracts. The stem extract of A. pavonina was further subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis for purification of the compounds of interest. A two-way ANOVA was done to estimate the effect of the extract between samples remembered at p<0.05 level.Results: Among all the studied samples, the extract of A. pavonina (stem) showed significant scavenging activity of 70.23% and 76.32% of scavenging compared to 74.58 % and 81.13% of that of reference standard in ABTS and DPPH assay, respectively. GC-MS analysis of the extract revealed the presence of 17 phytocompounds. MTT assay revealed that this extract (SB19) had promising cytotoxic activity against the two cancer cell lines, HCT116 and HeLa with inhibitory concentration 50% IC50 values of 25.86±0.21 μg/ml and 39.89±0.11 μg/ml, respectively. The extract treatment caused significant arrest in G2M phase of cell cycle.Conclusion: A. pavonina (stem) extract displayed significant antioxidant and antiproliferative activity and can be considered as a potential candidate drug for anticancer studies

COMPREHENSIVE INVITRO EVALUATION OF PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF SELECTED PLANT EXTRACTS AND GC-MS PROFILING OF FLACOURTIA JANGOMAS FLOWER EXTRACT

Objective: Continued exploration and bio-evaluation of plants hold good as there are an increasing demand and recognition of natural products in disease management. The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant, cytotoxic, and antiproliferative activity of methanolic extracts of different parts of six plants. Six plants - Couroupita guianensis, Flacourtia jangomas, Lucuma nervosa, Euphorbia milii, Acalypha hispida, and Hydnocarpus pentandra - were chosen for this study.Methods: The plant parts were extracted with methanol and screened for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azinobis-(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging abilities. The cytotoxic activity of the extracts was investigated on SCC9 and Calu6 through MTT assay, and cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry to determine the antiproliferative activity of the extracts. The flower extract of F. jangomas was further subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis for purification of the compounds of interest. A twoway ANOVA was done to estimate the effect of the extract between samples remembered at p<0.05 level.Results: Among all the plant extracts, the extract of F. jangomas (flower) showed significant antioxidant potential with IC50 values of 11.16±0.54 μg/mland 12.34±0.37 μg/ml for DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. GC-MS analysis of the extract revealed the presence of 21 phytocompounds. MTT assay revealed that this extract had promising cytotoxic activity against the two cancer cell lines, Calu6 and SCC9 with IC50 values of 43.57±0.04 μg/ml and 53.42±0.15 μg/ml, respectively. The extract treatment caused significant arrest in G2M phase of cell cycle.Conclusion: F. jangomas flower extract displayed significant antioxidant and antiproliferative activity and can be considered as a potential source ofanticancer compounds.Â

Genomic introgression in laboratory evolved hybrid races, Cytorace 1 and Fissioncytorace-1 of Nasuta-albomicans

Nasuta-albomicans complex (NAC) of Drosophila is an artificial hybrid zone comprising of Drosophila nasuta nasuta, Drosophila nasuta albomicans and 16 Cytoraces, which are the evolutionary products of a long range hybridization experiment conducted in the laboratory environment. Occurrence of centric fission in the X3 chromosome of Cytorace 1 led to the derivation of Fissioncytorace-1. Molecular techniques have emerged as powerful and valuable tools for detection and exploitation of genetic polymorphism. In the present study, Cytorace 1 and Fissioncytorace-1 were subjected to Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) analyses to determine the introgression of D. n. nasuta and D. n. albomicans genomes. It was found that Cytorace 1 and Fissioncytorace-1 exhibit similarities in RAPD and ISSR profiles although different combinations of genomic regions could have favoured Fissioncytorace-1, for better morphophenotypes and fitness, when compared to Cytorace 1, which has existed for over 15 years from the time of its evolution in the laboratory environment