title: Two steroidal saponins from Camassia cusickii induce L1210 cell death through the apoptotic mechanism.
abstract: Two steroidal saponins, tigogenin hexasaccharide-1 (TGHS-1, (25R)-5alpha-spirostan-3beta-yl 4-O-[2-0-[3-O-(alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-3-0-[4-0- (alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-3-D- galactopyranoside) and tigogenin hexasaccharide-2 (TGHS-2, (25R)-5alpha-spirostan-3beta-yl 4-O-[2-0-[3-0-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-3-0-[4-0- (alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]beta-D-galactopyranoside), were isolated from the fresh bulbs of Camassia cusickii. In murine leukemic L1210 cells, both compounds showed cytotoxicity with an EC50 value of 0.06 microM. The morphological observation revealed that TGHS-1 and TGHS-2 induced shrinkage in cell soma and chromatin condensation, suggesting apoptotic cell death. The cell death was confirmed to be apoptosis by Annexin V binding to phosphatidylserine in the cell membrane and excluding propidium iodide. A typical apoptotic DNA ladder and the cleavage of caspase-3 were observed after treatment with TGHS-1 and TGHS-2. In the presence of both the compounds, cells with sub-G1 DNA content were detected by flow cytometric analysis, indicating that TGHS-1 and TGHS-2 (each EC50 value of 0.1 microM) are the most powerful apoptotic saponins known. These results suggest that TGHS-1 and TGHS-2 induce apoptotic cell death through caspase-3 activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Aramaki, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Candra
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mimaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sashida
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamakuni
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohizumi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002469:Cell Separation; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007939:Leukemia L1210; D019668:Liliaceae; D051379:Mice; D018514:Plant Structures; D012503:Saponins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013150:Spirostans / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D012503:Saponins; D013150:Spirostans; C449562:tigogenin hexasaccharide-1; C449561:tigogenin hexasaccharide-2