Ravindranath Karunya Jenin, Christian Simon Durairaj, Srinivasan Hemalatha
School of Life Sciences, B. S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science & Technology, Vandalur, Chennai, 600048, India.
Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2023 Feb;195(2):1136-1157. doi: 10.1007/s12010-022-04202-1. Epub 2022 Nov 4.
Plants, rich in phytocompounds, have been in usage since time immemorial for treating various diseases, namely, cancer. One such plant species, Allium ascalonicum (Shallot) belonging to Amaryllidaceae family is being studied here for its anti-carcinogenic properties against breast cancer. GC-MS characterization of A. ascalonicum exhibited 48 phytocompounds containing five peak phytocompounds and 13 phytocompounds with anti-carcinogenic properties. These 13 anti-carcinogenic phytocompounds were docked with three hormonal receptors involved in breast cancer malignancy, namely, ERα, PR, and human EGFR with tamoxifen as standard for in silico analysis. The results exhibited three phytocompounds that had better binding scores compared to that of the standard drug, tamoxifen. Lyophilized powder of aqueous A. ascalonicum extract, also referred as ASE, was used for in vitro approaches. Antioxidant study using DPPH assay revealed that the highest percentage of FRSA in ASE, nearly 51%, was observed at 50 µg/ml concentration. Cytotoxicity study on MCF-7 cell line using MTT assay demonstrated IC value at 1400 µg/ml and anti-proliferative study using Trypan blue assay for the determination of percentage viability of MCF-7 cells at ICconcentration was observed to be 49%. Anti-mitotic activity using Vigna radiata seed germination assay revealed clear morphological differences in a dose-dependent manner between the seeds grown at various concentrations of ASE with nearly 56.5% growth inhibition observed at 1500 µg/ml concentration. Hence, this research work proves that Allium ascalonicum has very good anti-carcinogenic properties and this can be confirmed further through in vivo animal model studies and it can also be formulated as a promising drug to treat breast cancer. GC-MS characterization of Allium ascalonicum demonstrated the presence of five peak compounds and thirteen anti-carcinogenic compounds. The thirteen anti-carcinogenic compounds were docked with three target proteins (in silico analysis) involved in breast cancer malignancy and identified the presence of three potential phytocompounds that can be used for treating breast cancer. In vitro approaches also confirmed the presence of anti-carcinogenic properties such as antioxidative potential, cytotoxic, anti-proliferative, and anti-mitotic effects. Hence, Allium ascalonicum can be taken further to in vivo studies so that it can be formulated to treat breast cancer.
富含植物化合物的植物自古以来就被用于治疗各种疾病，尤其是癌症。这里正在研究一种属于石蒜科的植物物种——葱（Allium ascalonicum）对乳腺癌的抗癌特性。葱的气相色谱-质谱（GC-MS）表征显示有48种植物化合物，其中包括5种峰值植物化合物和13种具有抗癌特性的植物化合物。这13种具有抗癌特性的植物化合物与参与乳腺癌恶性发展的三种激素受体，即雌激素受体α（ERα）、孕激素受体（PR）和人表皮生长因子受体（human EGFR）进行对接，并以他莫昔芬作为计算机模拟分析的标准。结果显示，有三种植物化合物的结合分数比标准药物他莫昔芬更好。葱水提取物的冻干粉末，也称为ASE，被用于体外实验。使用二苯基苦味酰基自由基（DPPH）法进行的抗氧化研究表明，在50微克/毫升浓度下观察到ASE中自由基清除活性（FRSA）的最高百分比，接近51%。使用噻唑蓝（MTT）法对MCF-7细胞系进行的细胞毒性研究表明，IC值为1400微克/毫升，使用台盼蓝法进行的抗增殖研究用于测定在IC浓度下MCF-7细胞的活力百分比，结果为49%。使用绿豆种子发芽试验进行的抗有丝分裂活性研究表明，在不同浓度的ASE中生长的种子之间存在明显的剂量依赖性形态差异，在1500微克/毫升浓度下观察到近56.5%的生长抑制。因此，这项研究工作证明葱具有非常好的抗癌特性，这可以通过体内动物模型研究进一步证实，并且它还可以被制成一种有前景的治疗乳腺癌的药物。葱的GC-MS表征证明存在5种峰值化合物和13种抗癌化合物。这13种抗癌化合物与参与乳腺癌恶性发展的三种靶蛋白进行对接（计算机模拟分析），并确定存在三种可用于治疗乳腺癌的潜在植物化合物。体外实验也证实了其具有抗氧化潜力、细胞毒性、抗增殖和抗有丝分裂作用等抗癌特性。因此，葱可以进一步进行体内研究，以便将其制成治疗乳腺癌的药物。
