title: Effects of extracts from two Native American plants on proliferation of human breast and colon cancer cell lines in vitro.
abstract: Native American medicinal plants are traditionally used to prevent and treat a variety of diseases, including cancer. These herbal preparations are alleged to have many biological activities, such as stimulation or suppression of immune responses and antiproliferative effects on cancer cells. In the present study, we investigated the effects of aqueous and ethanol extracts from two Native American plants, Ligusticum porteri (Osha) and Anemopsis californica (Yerba Manza), on the growth of human MCF-7/AZ breast and HCT8/E11 colon cancer cells. The aqueous and ethanol extracts from A. californica potently inhibited growth of MCF-7/AZ in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas the growth of HCT8/E11 was unaltered. Extracts from L. porteri showed no activity on either cell line. In addition, we observed that the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) activities were markedly decreased when exposed to both extracts from A. californica. These results suggest that the growth inhibitory effect of A. californica in breast cancer cells is ERK-mediated.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biochemical and Biomedical Research, Department of Chemistry, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801, USA.
authors.forename: Amber L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Severine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Slambrouck
authors.forename: Robin K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tammy S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Arguello
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Browning
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pullin
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kornienko
authors.forename: Wim F A
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Steelant
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D030004:Ligusticum / Q000737:chemistry*; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3