Global Research Center for Innovative Life Science, Peptide Drug Innovation, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hoshi University , Tokyo , Japan.
Department of Physiology and Molecular Sciences, Division of Comprehensive and Fundamental Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hoshi University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences , Tokyo , Japan.
Plant Signal Behav. 2019;14(10):e1644594. doi: 10.1080/15592324.2019.1644594. Epub 2019 Jul 25.
The present research examines the possibility of finding bio-molecular compounds from the double cherry blossom (termed as 'Gosen-Sakura' of Gosen-city, Niigata-prefecture, Japan) leaves, which have been long used in the preparation of the traditional Japanese sweet (wagashi) - 'sakura-mochi'. Based on its indicated anti-microbial properties historically, our study provides a new low temperature vacuum extraction method for extracting 'near natural form of water soluble leaf (cell) extracts from the Gosen-Sakura, and demonstrates the presence of some 'novel' compound(s) with anti-tumor cell lines proliferation inhibitory affects through the MTT assay. To our knowledge, no reports exist on the sakura tree 'leaf (cell) extracts' inhibiting tumor cell line growth. We further examined and compared the effects of known compounds with anti-tumor activity, coumarin and benzyl alcohol with Gosen-Sakura leaf extract; results lead us to hypothesize that the Gosen-Sakura leaf extract contains substance(s) other than the above two known compounds, with antitumor effect. Additionally, we speculate on the underlying mechanism of action of the Gosen-Sakura leaf extract by targeting cell division at the point of DNA synthesis and causing apoptosis. In conclusion, we present scientific evidence on the presence of certain 'novel' biomolecule(s), with anti-tumor activity, in the Gosen-Sakura leaf which has been long used in Japanese sweet - the 'sakura-mochi'.
本研究旨在探索从双樱桃 blossom（日本新潟县越后市的“越后双樱”）叶片中寻找生物分子化合物的可能性。这些叶片长期以来一直被用于制作传统日本点心（和菓子）——“樱饼”。基于其历史上的抗微生物特性，我们研究提供了一种新的低温真空提取方法，用于从越后双樱中提取“接近天然形式的水溶性叶片（细胞）提取物”，并通过 MTT assay 证明了存在一些具有抗肿瘤细胞系增殖抑制作用的“新型”化合物。据我们所知，目前尚无关于樱树“叶片（细胞）提取物”抑制肿瘤细胞系生长的报道。我们进一步检查并比较了具有抗肿瘤活性的已知化合物香豆素和苯甲醇与越后双樱叶提取物的作用；结果使我们假设，越后双樱叶提取物中含有除上述两种已知化合物以外的具有抗肿瘤作用的物质。此外，我们通过针对 DNA 合成点的细胞分裂并引起细胞凋亡来推测越后双樱叶提取物的作用机制。总之，我们提出了科学证据，证明长期用于日本甜点名点——“樱饼”的越后双樱叶片中存在具有抗肿瘤活性的某些“新型”生物分子。
