Background: Annona squamosa is reported has a significant cytotoxic activity in some cancer cells. Objectives: Thus, this study aim to investigate Annona squamosa leaf extract induced by chitosan nanoparticles (nano-ASLE) to enhance their biological activity as anticancer agent on HeLa cells. Methods: Nano-ASLE (50, 100, 200, 400 µg/mL in DMSO) given on HeLa cells to determined IC 50 value by MTT assay. Then, it was devided into three groups as follow IC 50 , 2IC 50 , 4IC 50 continued with analysis of caspase-3 expression. Results: The present study demonstrated that nano-ASLE can surpress HeLa cells proliferation with the IC 50 value of 344.48 µg/mL and rapid enhancement of caspase-3 activity has the mean score of 65.3 cell expression and the lowest score shows 45.3 cell expression. Conclusion: Nano-ASLE lead to HeLa cell death via the mitochondrial pathway on caspase-3 expression. In addition, the further studies are needed to obtain the loading efficiency, release of drug concentration and in vivo study of nano-ASLE to suppress HeLa cells.

Globally, the leading cause of death from cancer in women is infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). This calls for imperative actions to explore anticancer drugs against this threatening viral infection, in which case, natural ingredients are presumed to be a promising source. Several studies show that plant-origin compounds such as allicin, apigenin, capsaicin, cyanidin, fisetin, genistein, laricitrin, naringenin, piperine, and syringetin have demonstrated therapeutic effects against several cancer types. In this study, the interaction mechanism of these compounds with HPV-18 E6 oncoprotein, that is known to downregulate tumor suppressor p53, was predicted using an in silico approach. Molecular docking simulations of natural ligands and E6 protein were performe, followed by chemical interaction analysis and 3D molecular visualization. Results indicated that fisetin is the best natural inhibitor as it has the lowest binding energy. It is highly recommended that the results of this study be used as a reference in designing anticancer drugs in vitro and in vivo.

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Dengue is a major mosquito-borne disease that currently has no effective antiviral or vaccine available. Recently, Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the dengue-endemic region, with a total population of more than 250 million. In the present study, the antiviral activity of P. merkusii stem bark and cone were evaluated against dengue virus type-2 (DENV-2; NCBI accession number: KT012509) isolated from Surabaya, Indonesia. We revealed that P. merkusii stem bark and cone inhibited DENV-2 in Vero cells (originally from African green monkey kidney) with IC50= 140.63 μg/mL and 73.78 μg/mL, CC50= 89.65 μg/mL and 249.5 μg/mL, SI= 0.64 and 3.38, respectively. The findings presented here suggest that P. merkusii stem bark and cone exerts potent antiviral activity against DENV-2. Hence, P. merkusii stem bark and cone are potent to inhibit DENV-2 and should be considered for in vivo evaluation in the development of an effective antiviral compound against DENV-2.

Background and Aim: Cervical cancer accounts for the fourth as a cause of death from cancer in women worldwide, with more than 85% of events and deaths occurring in developing countries. The main problems of chemotherapy are the lack of selectivity and drug resistance. This study aimed to investigate the signal transduction of chitosan-based Pinus merkusii bark extract nanoparticles (Nano-PMBE) as an anticancer on HeLa cell line. Materials and Methods: Nano-PMBE was prepared based on the ionic gelation method. Its anticancer activities in HeLa cells were investigated through cytotoxicity test, cell cycle, and apoptosis analysis. The expression of p53 and caspase-9 was also observed. Results: The results showed that Nano-PMBE has a size of 394.3 nm. Meanwhile, the Nano-PMBE was cytotoxic to HeLa cells ( IC50 of 384.10 μg/ml), caused G0/G1 phase arrest and cell apoptosis in HeLa cells. Besides, the expression of p53 and caspase-9 has increased. Conclusion: The results showed a notable anticancer effect of Nano-PMBE by arresting the cell cycle and inducing apoptosis in HeLa cells, suggesting that it might have therapeutic potential for cervical cancer. Further research is needed to find out more about the anticancer mechanism of Nano-PMBE in HeLa cells to in vivo and clinical studies.