title: Extract of Vernonia condensata, Inhibits Tumor Progression and Improves Survival of Tumor-allograft Bearing Mouse.
abstract: Medicinal plants are considered as one of the ideal sources for cancer therapy due to their bioactive contents and low toxicity to humans. Vernonia genus is one of the common medicinal plants, which has wide spread usage in food and medicine. However, there are limited studies to explore its anticancer properties. In the current study, we have used Vernonia condensata, to explore its anticancer activity using various approaches. Here, we show that extract prepared from Vernonia condensata (VCE) exhibits cytotoxic properties against various cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Interestingly, when treated with VCE, there was no significant cytotoxicity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Flow cytometry analysis revealed that although VCE induced cell death, arrest was not observed. VCE treatment led to disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential in a concentration dependent manner resulting in activation of apoptosis culminating in cell death. Immunoblotting studies revealed that VCE activated intrinsic pathway of apoptosis. More importantly, VCE treatment resulted in tumor regression leading to significant enhancement in life span in treated mice, without showing any detectable side effects. Therefore, for the first time our study reveals the potential of extract from Vernonia condensata to be used as an anticancer agent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560 012, India.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Electronics City, Bangalore 560 100, India.
authors.forename: Vidya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gopalakrishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560 012, India.
authors.forename: Ranganatha R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Somasagara
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Electronics City, Bangalore 560 100, India.
authors.forename: Bibha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Choudhary
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560 012, India.
authors.forename: Sathees C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Raghavan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D053078:Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D035741:Vernonia / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D010936:Plant Extracts