van der Walt Nicola B, Zakeri Zahra, Cronjé Marianne J
Department of Biochemistry, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa; Department of Biology, Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY 11367, USA.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2016;2016:4921067. doi: 10.1155/2016/4921067. Epub 2016 Aug 30.
Sutherlandia frutescens is a medicinal plant indigenous to Southern Africa and is commonly known as the "cancer bush." This plant has traditionally been used for the treatment of various ailments, although it is best known for its claims of activity against "internal" cancers. Here we report on its effect on melanoma cells. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an extract of S. frutescens could induce apoptosis in the A375 melanoma cell line and to outline the basic mechanism of action. S. frutescens extract induced apoptosis in A375 cells as evidenced by morphological features of apoptosis, phosphatidylserine exposure, nuclear condensation, caspase activation, and the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria. Studies in the presence of a pan-caspase inhibitor allude to caspase-independent cell death, which appeared to be mediated by the apoptosis inducing factor. Taken together, the results of this study show that S. frutescens extract is effective in inducing apoptosis in malignant melanoma cells and indicates that further in vivo mechanistic studies may be warranted.
南非半边莲是一种原产于南部非洲的药用植物，通常被称为“抗癌灌木”。这种植物传统上用于治疗各种疾病，不过它最出名的是其对“体内”癌症的治疗作用。在此，我们报告其对黑色素瘤细胞的影响。本研究的目的是调查南非半边莲提取物是否能诱导A375黑色素瘤细胞系凋亡，并概述其基本作用机制。南非半边莲提取物诱导A375细胞凋亡，凋亡的形态学特征、磷脂酰丝氨酸暴露、核浓缩、半胱天冬酶激活以及细胞色素c从线粒体释放均证明了这一点。在存在泛半胱天冬酶抑制剂的情况下进行的研究提示存在不依赖半胱天冬酶的细胞死亡，这似乎是由凋亡诱导因子介导的。综上所述，本研究结果表明南非半边莲提取物可有效诱导恶性黑色素瘤细胞凋亡，并表明可能有必要进一步开展体内机制研究。
