title: Cytotoxicity of Plumbagin, Rapanone and 12 other naturally occurring Quinones from Kenyan Flora towards human carcinoma cells.
abstract: Cancer is a major public health concern globally and chemotherapy remains the principal mode of the treatment of various malignant diseases.
  
  
  
  This study was designed to investigate the cytotoxicity of 14 naturally occurring quinones including; 3 anthraquinones, 1 naphthoquinone and 10 benzoquinones against 6 human carcinoma cell lines and normal CRL2120 fibroblasts. The neutral red uptake (NR) assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the compounds, whilst caspase-Glo assay was used to detect caspases activation. Cell cycle and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were all analyzed via flow cytometry meanwhile levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured by spectrophotometry.
  
  
  
  Anthraquinone: emodin (2), naphthoquinone: plumbagin (4), and benzoquinones: rapanone (9), 2,5-dihydroxy-3-pentadecyl-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1,4-dione (10), 5-O-methylembelin (11), 1,2,4,5-tetraacetate-3-methyl-6-(14-nonadecenyl)-cyclohexadi-2,5-diene (13), as well as doxorubicin displayed interesting activities with IC50values below 100 μM in the six tested cancer cell lines. The IC50values ranged from 37.57 μM (towards breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells) to 99.31 μM (towards small cell lung cancer A549 cells) for 2, from 0.06 μM (MCF-7 cells) to 1.14 μM (A549 cells) for 4, from 2.27 μM (mesothelioma SPC212 cells) to 46.62 μM (colorectal adenocarcinoma DLD-1 cells) for 9, from 8.39 μM (SPC212 cells) to 48.35 μM (hepatocarinoma HepG2 cells) for 10, from 22.57 μM (MCF-7 cells) to 61.28 μM (HepG2 cells) for 11, from 9.25 μM (MCF-7 cells) to 47.53 μM (A549 cells) for 13, and from 0.07 μM (SPC212 cells) to 1.01 μM (A549 cells) for doxorubicin. Compounds 4 and 9 induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells mediated by increased ROS production and MMP loss, respectively.
  
  
  
  The tested natural products and mostly 2, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 13 are potential cytotoxic compounds that deserve more investigations towards developing novel antiproliferative drugs against human carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon. kuetevictor@yahoo.fr.|Department of Biology, Science Faculty, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey. kuetevictor@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kuete
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Leonidah K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Omosa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Université des Montagnes, Bangangte, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Viviane R Sipowo
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Tala
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Jacob O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Midiwo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Armelle T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Mbaveng
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Sauda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swaleh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Science Faculty, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Oğuzhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karaosmanoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Science Faculty, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hülya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sivas
mesh_terms: D000072283:A549 Cells; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000633:toxicity*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D016227:Benzoquinones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000633:toxicity*; D018938:Caco-2 Cells; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D009285:Naphthoquinones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000633:toxicity*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000633:toxicity*; D011809:Quinones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D016227:Benzoquinones; D009285:Naphthoquinones; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011809:Quinones; C054611:rapanone; C014758:plumbagin
keywords: Carcinoma; Mode of action; Plumbagin; Quinones; Rapanone; cytotoxicity