Phytochemical screening and characterization of anti proliferative potential of selected medicinal plants through in vitro system

Abstract

Cancer is a growing health issue worldwide, and one of the most important areas of natural product research is to find new anti-proliferative drugs. In this study, we investigated the anti-proliferative activities of methanolic extracts from six plants, including leaves and stems of V. negundo, leaves and stems of L. camara, leaves, stems, and flowers of B. variegata, leaves and stems of B. racemosa, leaves of D. sissoo, and leaves of C. papaya against MCF-7, KB, HeLa cancer cell lines, and human fibroblast cells. We found that the methanolic extracts of B. variegata, D. sissoo (leaves), V. negundo (leaves), and B. racemosa (leaves, stem) were potent extracts. We partially fractionated these extracts and found that the water fraction of D. sissoo leaves and the ethyl acetate fraction of B. racemosa stem displayed the most potent anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 cell lines and also showed significant antioxidant activity. For a molecular study, we conducted qRT-PCR, DNA fragmentation assay, ROS generation assay, mitochondrial membrane potential assay, and Caspase 3 assay. The qRT- PCR results showed that the water fraction of D. sissoo leaves and the ethylacetate fraction of B. racemosa stem upregulated Bax, Caspase 3, Caspase 9, and Caspase 8, and downregulated ATP5, Cyclic D1, CD44 genes. The water fraction of D. sissoo leaves and the ethyl acetate fraction of B. racemosa stem induced ROS generation, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and increased casp-3 activity in a time-dependent manner. Finally, using the LC-MS technique, we identified cytotoxic compounds from the water fraction of D. sissoo leaves and the ethyl acetate fraction of B. racemosa stem. The study concluded that D. sissoo has the potential to trigger growth-inhibitive and apoptosis effects in MCF-7 cells. This suggests that D. sissoo may possess anti-breast cancer properties.