Potency of extracts from selected Egyptian plants as inducers of the Nrf2-dependent chemopreventive enzyme NQO1.
Medicinal plants from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula are widely used in traditional Bedouin medicine to treat a range of conditions including cancer, and as such are a promising resource for novel anti-cancer compounds. To achieve scientific justification of traditional use and/or to recommend the use of those plants as medicinal herbs for cancer chemoprevention, a group of 11 Sinai plants of different species that belong to 3 families (Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Euphorbiaceae) were biologically screened for cancer preventive activity using the chemoprevention marker enzyme
quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1). Among the fractions assayed, a solvent extract from Pulicaria incisa had potent NQO1 inducing activity. Further analysis of the mechanism of induction revealed the concentration-dependent stabilization of the transcription factor NF-E2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and a coordinate upregulation of the Nrf2-dependent enzymes NQO1, heme oxygenase 1 and glutathione S-transferase-Pi. These results establish P. incisa as a promising target for future phytochemical characterization for cancer preventive components.
Phytochemistry Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouth st., Dokki, P.O. Box 12622, Giza, Egypt. n1ragab2004@yahoo.com.
Ahmed R
AR
Hamed
Phytochemistry Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouth st., Dokki, P.O. Box 12622, Giza, Egypt.
Mohamed-Elamir F
ME
Hegazy
Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre, Division of Cancer Research, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 9SY, Scotland, UK.
Maureen
M
Higgins
Phytochemistry Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouth st., Dokki, P.O. Box 12622, Giza, Egypt.
Tarik A
TA
Mohamed
Phytochemistry Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouth st., Dokki, P.O. Box 12622, Giza, Egypt.
Nahla S
NS
Abdel-Azim
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA.
Paul W
PW
Pare
Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre, Division of Cancer Research, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 9SY, Scotland, UK.
Albena T
AT
Dinkova-Kostova
D000818:Animals; D018890:Chemoprevention; D004534:Egypt; D051379:Mice; D016660:NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone) / Q000378:metabolism*; D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2 / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology
D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2; D010936:Plant Extracts; D016660:NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone); C447479:NQO1 protein, human
Asteraceae; Chemoprevention; GST; HO-1; NQO1; Nrf2; Pulicaria incisa