Behbahani Mandana
Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technologies, University of Isfahan, Isfahan 81746-73441, Islamic Republic of Iran.
PLoS One. 2014 Dec 30;9(12):e116049. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116049. eCollection 2014.
The present investigation was carried out to study the relationship between presence of cytotoxic compounds in Ocimum basilicum, Alhagi maurorum, Calendula officinalis and their parasite Cuscuta campestris. The cytotoxic activity of the pure compounds was performed by MTT assay against breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and normal breast cell line (MCF 10A). The induction of apoptosis was measured by the expression levels of p53, bcl-2, bax and caspase-3 genes using quantitative Real Time PCR. Three active fractions were detected by nuclear magnetic resonance as lutein, lupeol and eugenol, respectively, in C. officinalis, A. maurorum and O. basilicum. These compounds and their epoxidized forms were also detected in their parasite C. campestris. The cytotoxic activity of lutein epoxide, lupeol epoxide and eugenol epoxide was significantly more than lutein, lupeol and eugenol. The mRNA expression level of p53, caspase-3 and bax genes were increased in both cancer cells treated with all pure compounds. However, bcl-2 gene expression decreased in treated breast cancer cells. In conclusion, all the data indicated that the epoxide forms of lupeol, lutein and eugenol are potential drug candidates for inducing apoptosis in human breast cancer cells.
本研究旨在探讨罗勒、骆驼刺、金盏花及其寄生植物田野菟丝子中细胞毒性化合物的存在情况及其相互关系。通过MTT法检测纯化合物对乳腺癌细胞系（MCF-7和MDA-MB-231）和正常乳腺细胞系（MCF 10A）的细胞毒性活性。使用定量实时PCR通过p53、bcl-2、bax和caspase-3基因的表达水平来测定细胞凋亡的诱导情况。通过核磁共振分别在金盏花、骆驼刺和罗勒中检测到三种活性成分，分别为叶黄素、羽扇豆醇和丁香酚。在它们的寄生植物田野菟丝子中也检测到了这些化合物及其环氧化形式。环氧叶黄素、环氧羽扇豆醇和环氧丁香酚的细胞毒性活性明显高于叶黄素、羽扇豆醇和丁香酚。在用所有纯化合物处理的两种癌细胞中，p53、caspase-3和bax基因的mRNA表达水平均升高。然而，在处理过的乳腺癌细胞中，bcl-2基因表达下降。总之，所有数据表明，羽扇豆醇、叶黄素和丁香酚的环氧化形式是诱导人乳腺癌细胞凋亡的潜在候选药物。
