Abstract. Cirsium japonicum is a wild perennial herb that has been used as an anti-hemorrhagic, anti-hypertensive and uretic agent in traditional chinese medicine. recently, it was reported that C. japonicum inhibits the growth of implanted cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer properties of C. japonicum are not fully understood. in this study, we investigated the effect of a methanol extract of C. japonicum on cell growth in the human breast cancer cell line McF-7. C. japonicum extract inhibited the cell proliferation of McF-7 cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner, as evaluated by the MTT assay. Furthermore, C. japonicum extract induced an antiproliferative effect by causing G 1 phase cell cycle arrest and also induced apoptosis by affecting mitochondrial apoptotic events, as determined by nuclear derangement, flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. Taken together, our findings indicate that C. japonicum extract induces the inhibition of McF-7 cell growth at both the proliferation and apoptosis levels.
Introductioncurrently, many efforts are underway to develop new therapeutic anti-cancer drugs from natural sources. a major natural reservoir is plant material. Plant secondary metabolites have occasionally been used as chemotherapeutic agents to mediate cytostatic activity in cancer cells. Widely used anti-mitotic anti-cancer drugs including Vinca alkaloids and paclitaxel have been isolated from Catharanthus roseus and Taxus baccata, respectively (1). The dna polymerase i inhibitor camptothecin was sourced from Camptotheca acuminata (2). curcumin isolated from Curcuma longa has shown anticancer properties, such as the inhibition of tumor promotion and the induction of apoptosis in cancer cells (3-5).Cirsium japonicum is a wild perennial herb found in many areas of Korea, Japan and china. it has been used as an anti-hemorrhagic, anti-hypertensive and uretic agent in traditional chinese medicine (6). recent studies have found that the water extracts of C. japonicum induce the activation of estrogen receptors and have estrogenic effects (7). C. japonicum also contains a vasorelaxant principle, mediating histamine H1-receptor activation (8). in traditional medicine, C. japonicum has sometimes been used for the management of different types of cancer, including liver and uterine cancer and leukemia (9).recently, it was reported that C. japonicum and its flavone components induce the inhibition of tumor formation in mice (9,10). However, the mechanism underlying the anti-cancer effects of these C. japonicum compounds are not fully understood.in the present study, we observed that a methanol extract of C. japonicum significantly reduced cancer cell growth in a time-and dose-dependent manner, using the human breast cancer cell line McF-7. Furthermore, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-proliferative activities of C. japonicum.
Materials and methodsPreparation of C. japonicum extract. dried roots of C. japonicum from Korea were purchased from the Kyungd...