title: Cleome arabica leaf extract has anticancer properties in human cancer cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cleome arabica L. (Capparidaceae) is a desert plant widely distributed in the North part of Africa whose leaves are used in traditional medicine as a sedative for abdominal and rheumatic pains.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The anticancer activity of methanol Cleome arabica leaf extracts (CALE) is investigated in different human cancer cell lines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five different human cancer cell lines, representative of the most common cancers in Western countries (i.e., breast adenocarcinoma, colon carcinoma, neuroblastoma, hepatoma, cervix carcinoma) were treated with different concentrations of CALE (i.e., 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 µg/ml). Cell viability and cell cycle were measured by using a hemocytometer chamber and a cytofluorimeter, respectively. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) was used as a positive control. Western blots were performed to evaluate the CALE effects on pathways involved in cell growth regulation and on apoptotic cascade activation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirm that CALE has a high content of polyphenolic compounds (i.e., 32.21 ± 3.44%), mainly as flavonoids (24.56 ± 4.67%). In all tested cell lines CALE treatment reduces cell number in a dose-dependent manner (ED50 = 175 ± 30 µg/ml). CALE (100 and 200 µg/ml) increases by three-fold the activation of the apoptotic cascade involving caspase-3 activation and the cleavage of its substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Intriguingly, CALE treatment (200 µg/ml) also blocks EGF-induced cell growth by preventing the growth factor-triggered AKT and ERK phosphorylation. As a whole, these data strongly suggest that CALE possesses anticancer effects in all tested cancer cell lines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Ecole Normale Superieure , Algiers , Algeria .
authors.forename: Chafia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tigrine
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bulzomi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.forename: Hamama
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bouriche
authors.forename: Abdelkarim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kameli
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marino
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D031485:Cleome / Q000737:chemistry*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000187:drug effects; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D059808:Polyphenols / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D005419:Flavonoids; D010936:Plant Extracts; D059808:Polyphenols; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt