Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Anadolu University, 26470, Eskişehir, Turkey,
Cytotechnology. 2015 Oct;67(5):893-904. doi: 10.1007/s10616-015-9877-6. Epub 2015 Apr 24.
Aesculus hippocastanum (the horse chestnut) seed extract has a wide variety of biochemical and pharmacological effects including anti-inflammatory, antianalgesic, and antipyretic activities. The main active compound of this plant is escin. It is known that several medicinal herbs with anti-inflammatory properties have been found to have a role in the prevention and treatment of cancer. In the present study, the cytotoxic effects of escin in the C6 glioma and A549 cell lines were analyzed by MTT. Apoptotic effects of escin on both cell lines were evaluated by Annexin V binding capacity with flow cytometric analysis. Structural and ultrastructural changes were also evaluated using transmission electron microscopy. The results indicated that escin has potent antiproliferative effects against C6 glioma and A549 cells. These effects are both dose and time dependent. Taken together, escin possesses cell cycle arrest on G0/G1 phase and selective apoptotic activity on A549 cells as indicated by increased Annexin V-binding capacity, bax protein expression, caspase-3 activity and morphological changes obtained from micrographs by transmission electron microscopy.
七叶树（马栗）种子提取物具有广泛的生化和药理作用，包括抗炎、抗镇痛和退热活性。这种植物的主要活性化合物是七叶皂苷。已知几种具有抗炎特性的草药在癌症的预防和治疗中具有作用。在本研究中，通过 MTT 分析了七叶皂苷在 C6 神经胶质瘤和 A549 细胞系中的细胞毒性作用。通过流式细胞术分析 Annexin V 结合能力评估了七叶皂苷对这两种细胞系的凋亡作用。还使用透射电子显微镜评估了结构和超微结构的变化。结果表明，七叶皂苷对 C6 神经胶质瘤和 A549 细胞具有很强的增殖抑制作用。这些作用均呈剂量和时间依赖性。综上所述，七叶皂苷通过增加 Annexin V 结合能力、bax 蛋白表达、caspase-3 活性和透射电镜获得的显微照片中的形态变化，使细胞周期停滞在 G0/G1 期，并对 A549 细胞具有选择性凋亡活性。
