title: Selective cytotoxicity and modulation of apoptotic signature of breast cancer cells by Pithecellobium dulce leaf extracts.
abstract: We report the potent and selective cytotoxicity of the crude aqueous leaf extract from the medicinal plant, Pithecellobium dulce toward the human breast cancer cells (MCF-7), but not the normal cells (MCF-10A). The cytotoxicity was found to be dose and time dependent, as 300 µg/mL of the extract decreased the cell viability to 50% (IC50 ) in 48 h. The induction of apoptosis in the breast cancer cells after treatment was confirmed by significant percentage (24.7%), of early apoptotic cells (AnnexinV (+) Propidium Iodide(_) ) in treated cells as compared to control cells (3.5%). We observed a significant upregulation in the mRNA expression of various pro-apoptotic gene such as Bax (21.1 folds), p21(14.4 folds), p53 (11.7 folds), TNF (10.2 folds) and fas (6.3 folds) after treatment as compared to untreated cells. On the other hand, the relative mRNA expression of anti-apoptotic genes such as Bcl-2, NF-KB and Cdk was reduced. The selective upregulation of pro-apoptotic gene and down regulation of specific anti-apoptotic genes could be the inducing factor for apoptotic cell death in MCF-7 cells after treatment with the herbal extract. We believe that our findings provide a foundation for further studies on this formulation as a potential therapeutic candidate for breast cancer. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:756-766, 2016.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: anti carcinogenic; apoptotic signature; breast cancer; cytotoxicity; phytochemicals