β-mangostin suppresses LA-7 cells proliferation in vitro and in vivo: involvement of antioxidant enzyme modulation; suppression of matrix metalloproteinase and α6β4 integrin signalling pathways

β-mangostin (βM) was isolated from Cratoxylum arborescens to investigate anti-breast cancer effect in vitro and in vivo. βM exhibited an inhibitory effect on the growth of LA-7 cells in vitro with apoptosis formation. In the animal model, βM treatment was found to be effective in improving the tissue antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase activity (P < 0.05). βM treatment clearly exhibited apoptosis in mammary tumour tissues, and it was associated with regulation of PCNA and p53. The cDNA microarray gene expression followed by qRT-PCR based validation demonstrated that βM could mediate tumour reduction and prevent metastasis by reduction of MMP-9, MMP-13, and MMP-27. Moreover, the reduction of both 14-3-3β and ITGB4 genes indicated the involvement of α6β4 integrin signalling pathway. These findings showed that β-mangostin is a promising compound candidate as an anti-tumour agent against breast cancer

Apoptosis effect of girinimbine isolated from Murraya koenigii on lung cancer cells in vitro

Murraya koenigii Spreng has been traditionally claimed as a remedy for cancer. The current study investigated the anticancer effects of girinimbine, a carbazole alkaloid isolated from Murraya koenigii Spreng, on A549 lung cancer cells in relation to apoptotic mechanistic pathway. Girinimbine was isolated from Murraya koenigii Spreng. The antiproliferative activity was assayed using MTT and the apoptosis detection was done by annexin V and lysosomal stability assays. Multiparameter cytotoxicity assays were performed to investigate the change in mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome c translocation. ROS, caspase, and human apoptosis proteome profiler assays were done to investigate the apoptotic mechanism of cell death. The MTT assay revealed that the girinimbine induces cell death with an IC50 of 19.01 μM. A significant induction of early phase of apoptosis was shown by annexin V and lysosomal stability assays. After 24 h treatment with 19.01 μM of girinimbine, decrease in the nuclear area and increase in mitochondrial membrane potential and plasma membrane permeability were readily visible. Moreover the translocation of cytochrome c also was observed. Girinimbine mediates its antiproliferative and apoptotic effects through up- and downregulation of apoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins. There was a significant involvement of both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. Moreover, the upregulation of p53 as well as the cell proliferation repressor proteins, p27 and p21, and the significant role of insulin/IGF-1 signaling were also identified. Moreover the caspases 3 and 8 were found to be significantly activated. Our results taken together indicated that girinimbine may be a potential agent for anticancer drug development

β-Mangostin induces p53-dependent G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through ROS mediated mitochondrial pathway and NfkB suppression in MCF-7 cells

β-Mangostin (βM) was isolated from Cratoxylum arborescens to investigate its anti-cancer effect in MCF-7 cells. βM induced apoptosis by down-regulation of Bcl2 and up-regulation of Bax, triggering the cytochrome c release from mitochondria to cytosol. The release of caspase-9 and -7 and consequently cleaved PARP leading to apoptotic was observed upon treatment. Reduction of both bid and caspase 8 and the up regulation of Fas showed the involvement of the extrinsic pathway. Significantly up regulated GADD45A and HRK genes were observed upon treatment, with concomitant inhibition of NF-kB to nucleus. The protein array had demonstrated the expression of HSP 70, HSP 60, XIAP, Survivin, p53 and Bax. Moreover, βM had showed p53-dependent G2/M cell cycle arrest by down regulation of cdc2 and PCNA. Together, the results demonstrated that the βM induced anti-proliferative effect, leading to G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through both the extrinsic and mitochondrial pathways with the involvement of the multiple pro and anti-apoptosis and NF-kB signalling pathways

β Mangostin suppress LPS-induced inflammatory response in RAW 264.7 macrophages in vitro and carrageenan-induced peritonitis in vivo

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The fruit hull of Garcinia mangostana Linn. has been used in traditional medicine for treatment of various inflammatory diseases. Hence, this study aims to investigate the in vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory effect of β mangostin (βM), a major compound present in Garcinia mangostana. Materials and methods: The in silico analysis of inflammatory mediators such as cyclooxygenase (COX) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) were performed via molecular docking. Further evaluation of anti-inflammatory effect was conducted in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced RAW 264.7 macrophages. Suppression of activated NF-kB was analyzed by high content screening. βM triggered inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 in vitro were studied using biochemical kit. The in vivo model used in this study was carrageenan-induced peritonitis model, where reduction in carrageenan-induced peritonitis is measured by leukocyte migration and vascular permeability. In addition, the evaluation of βM׳s effect on carrageenan induced TNF-α and IL-1β release on peritoneal fluid was also carried out. Results: Treatment with βM could inhibit the LPS-induced NO production but not the viability of RAW 264.7. Similarly, βM inhibited PGE2 production and the cytokines: TNF-α and IL-6. The COX catalyzed prostaglandin biosynthesis assay had showed selective COX-2 inhibition with a 53.0±6.01% inhibition at 20 µg/ml. Apart from this, βM was capable in repressing translocation of NF-kB into the nucleus. These results were concurrent with molecular docking which revealed COX-2 selectivity and NF-kB inhibition. The in vivo analysis showed that after four hours of peritonitis, βM was unable to reduce vascular permeability, yet could decrease the total leukocyte migration; particularly, neutrophils. Meanwhile, dexamethasone 0.5 mg/kg, successfully reduced vascular permeability. The levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in peritoneal fluid was reduced significantly by βM treatment. Conclusion: The current study supports the traditional use of Garcinia mangostana fruit hull for treatment of inflammatory conditions. In addition, it is clear that the anti-inflammatory efficacy of this plant is not limited to the presence of α and γ, but β also with significant activity

Typhonium flagelliforme induces apoptosis in CEMss cells via activation of caspase-9, PARP cleavage and cytochrome c release: Its activation coupled with G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest.

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The plant Typhonium flagelliforme (TF), commonly known as ‘rodent tuber’ in Malaysia, is often used as traditional remedy for cancer, including leukemia. Aim of the study:Wehad previously identified morphologically that the linoleic acid rich fraction (DCM/F7) from the tubers of this plant induces selective anti-proliferative effects and apoptosis in CEMss cells. In this present study, we subjected the same DCM/F7 fraction to cell based activity analyses in order to determine the possible mechanism of cell death in leukemic CEMss cells in vitro. Materials and methods: Extraction of Typhonium flagelliforme tuber has done and fractionation has been done by vacuum liquid column chromatography. The anti-proliferative activity was assayed using MTT and the apoptosis detection was done by Annexin V and DNA laddering assay. Colorimetric caspase assay and immunoblot analysis were employed to detect the expression of protein associated with cell death. Cell cycle analysis was done using flow cytometry. Results: We found that the cancer inhibitory effect of the DCM/F7 fraction in CEMss cells was 3±0.08g/ml (IC50). An early apoptotic induction in CEMss cells was observed by Annexin V assay, which showed a clear dose-dependent DNA fragmentation being observed in gel electrophoresis at 10 and 20g/ml. The DCM/F7 fraction at 3g/ml significantly arrested CEMss cells at G0/G1 phase (p < 0.05). A constant but increasing pattern-related Sub-G0/G1 index was observed between 12 and 72 h treatment. In relation to this, we further investigated the biochemical events leading to cell death and found that the DCM/F7 fraction increased the cellular levels of caspase-3 and -9 on treated cells. Our results indicated that cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol increased gradually as the DCM/F7 concentration increases, which later lead to the subsequent cleavage of PARP in to 85 kDa fragments. On the contrary, Bcl-2 protein was found to decrease concomitantly during treatment. Conclusions: Collectively, results presented in this study demonstrated that the DCM/F7 fraction inhibited the proliferation of leukemia cells, leading to the programmed cell death, which was confirmed to be through the mitochondrial pathway

In vitro anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of boesenbergin A, a chalcone isolated from Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) (fingerroot)

The current in vitro study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of boesenbergin A (BA), a chalcone derivative of known structure isolated from Boesenbergia rotunda. Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29), non-small cell lung cancer (A549), prostate adenocarcinoma (PC3), and normal hepatic cells (WRL-68) were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of BA using the MTT assay. The antioxidant activity of BA was assessed by the ORAC assay and compared to quercetin as a standard reference antioxidant. ORAC results are reported as the equivalent concentration of Trolox that produces the same level of antioxidant activity as the sample tested at 20 µg/mL. The toxic effect of BA on different cell types, reported as IC50, yielded 20.22 ± 3.15, 10.69 ± 2.64, 20.31 ± 1.34, 94.10 ± 1.19, and 9.324 ± 0.24 µg/mL for A549, PC3, HepG2, HT-29, and WRL-68, respectively. BA displayed considerable antioxidant activity, when the results of ORAC assay were reported as Trolox equivalents. BA (20 µg/mL) and quercetin (5 µg/mL) were equivalent to a Trolox concentration of 11.91 ± 0.23 and 160.32 ± 2.75 µM, respectively. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory activity of BA was significant at 12.5 to 50 µg/mL and without any significant cytotoxicity for the murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 at 50 µg/mL. The significant biological activities observed in this study indicated that BA may be one of the agents responsible for the reported biological activities of B. rotunda crude extract

Dentatin isolated from Clausena excavata induces apoptosis in MCF-7 cellsthrough the intrinsic pathway with involvement of NF-kB signalling andG0/G1 cell cycle arrest : a bioassay-guided approach

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Clausena excavata Burm. f. has been used in folk medicines in eastern Thailand for the treatment of cancer. Materials and methods: To investigate the apoptosis mechanism, we isolated dentatin (DTN) from this plant using a bioassay-guided approach. DTN-induced cytotoxicity was observed with the MTT assay. Acridine orange/propidium iodide staining was used to detect cells in early apoptosis and high content screening (HCS) to observe nuclear condensation, cell permeability, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and cytochrome c release. Apoptosis was confirmed with a clonogenic assay, DNA laddering and caspase 3/7 and 9 assays. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, Bcl-2 and Bax expression, and cell cycle arrest were also investigated. The involvement of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) was analysed with the HCS assay. Results: A significant increase in chromatin condensation in the cell nucleus was observed by fluorescence analysis. Apoptosis was confirmed by the reduced number of colonies in the clonogenic assay and the increased number of cellular DNA breaks in treated cells observed as a DNA ladder. Treatment of MCF-7 cells with DTN encouraged apoptosis with cell death-transducing signals that reduced MMP by down-regulation of Bcl-2 and up-regulation of Bax, triggering cytochrome c release from the mitochondria to the cytosol. The released cytochrome c triggered the activation of caspase 9 followed by the executioner caspase 3/7. DTN treatment significantly arrested MCF-7 cells at the G0/G1 phase (po0.05) and ROS was significantly elevated. Moreover, DTN significantly blocked the induced translocation of NF-kB from cytoplasm to nucleus. Conclusion: Together, the results demonstrated that the DTN isolated from Clausena excavata inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells, leading to cell cycle arrest and programmed cell death, which was confirmed to occur through the mitochondrial pathway with involvement of the NF-kB signalling pathway

Synthesis of Chalcones with Anticancer Activities

Several chalcones were synthesized and their&lt;em&gt; in vitro &lt;/em&gt;cytotoxicity against various human cell lines, including human breast adenocarcinoma cell line MCF-7, human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549, human prostate cancer cell line PC3, human adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29 (colorectal cancer) and human&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;normal liver cell line WRL-68 was evaluated. Most of the compounds being active cytotoxic agents, four of them with minimal IC&lt;sub&gt;50&lt;/sub&gt; values were chosen and studied in detail with MCF-7 cells. The compounds &lt;strong&gt;1&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;5&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;23&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;25&lt;/strong&gt; were capable in eliciting apoptosis in MCF-7 cells as shown by multiparameter cytotoxicity assay and caspase-3/7, -8, and -9 activities (&lt;em&gt;p&lt;/em&gt; &lt; 0.05). The ROS level showed 1.3-fold increase (&lt;em&gt;p&lt;/em&gt; &lt; 0.05) at the low concentrations used and thus it was concluded that the compounds increased the ROS level eventually leading to apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through intrinsic as well as extrinsic pathways

Girinimbine for use as anti cancer agent.

The present invention relates to novel means of treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using a natural compound isolated from the curry leave plant ? 3,3,5-trimethyl-11H-pyrano[3,2-a]carbazole (Girinimbine). The invention thus relates to methods for the prevention and/or treatment of proliferative diseases using the above compound. Further disclosed is the use of girinimbine as a food supplement and/or additive, specifically for daily intake to reduce the risk of developing such a disease. The invention further includes pharmaceutical compositions comprising the active compound, as well as the use of plant material for administration as a therapeutic or as a food supplement