title: Anticancer properties of highly purified L-asparaginase from Withania somnifera L. against acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: Withania somnifera L. has been traditionally used as a sedative and hypnotic. The present study was carried out for the purification, characterization, and in vitro cytotoxicity of L-asparaginase from W. somnifera L. L-Asparaginase was purified from the fruits of W. somnifera L. up to 95% through chromatography. The purified L-asparaginase was characterized by size exclusion chromatography, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), and 2D PAGE. The antitumor and growth inhibition effect of the L-asparaginase was assessed using [3-(4, 5-dimethyl-thiazol-2yl)-2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide] (MTT) colorimetric dye reduction method. The purified enzyme is a homodimer, with a molecular mass of 72 +/- 0.5 kDa, and the pI value of the enzyme was around 5.1. This is the first report of the plant containing L-asparaginase with antitumor activity. Data obtained from the MTT assay showed a LD(50) value of 1.45 +/- 0.05 IU/ml. W. somnifera L. proved to be an effective and a novel source of L: -asparaginase. Furthermore, it shows a lot of similarity with bacterial L-asparaginases EC-2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biotechnology, BRD School of Biosciences, Sardar Patel University, Sardar Patel Maidan, Vadtal Road, Satellite Campus, Post Box No. 39, Vallabh Vidyanagar, 388 120, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Vishal P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Oza
authors.forename: Pritesh P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Parmar
authors.forename: Sushil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Subramanian
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001215:Asparaginase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008517:Phytotherapy; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000494:pharmacology; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D032341:Withania / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates; D001215:Asparaginase