Anticancer properties of Tulbaghia violacea regulate the expression of p53-dependent mechanisms in cancer cell lines

Abstract

Cancer is an enormous burden of disease globally. Today, more people die from cancer than a combination of several diseases. And in females, breast and cervical malignancies remain the most common types. Currently, cervical and breast cancer are the most diagnosed gynecological cancer type amongst black females in the Southern Sahara while amongst males prostate cancer is on the upward trend. With many of them still dependent on medicinal plants as a form of therapy and the need to identify new therapeutic agents, we have identified a commonly used medicinal plant Tulbaghia violacea Harv. commonly known as Itswele lomlambo (Xhosa), wilde knoffel (Afrikaans) and Isihaqa (zulu) to evaluate its anticancer properties at a molecular biology level. In this study, we evaluated the molecular mechanism of T. violacea extracts in regulating cell death in various cancer cell lines. To achieve this, T. violacea was collected, dried before crushing into a fine ground powder. Three organic solvents namely, methanol, hexane, and butanol at 10 g per 100 mL were used as extraction solvents. Each cell line was treated with varying concentrations of the plant extract to identify the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50). The IC 50 was later used to analyse if the extracts were inducing apoptosis using annexin V analysis. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms by which apoptosis was induced was analysed by qPCR, western blots. All three extracts exhibited anticancer activity with the most cytotoxic being methanol extract. p53 expression was significantly increased in treated cells that correlated with increased caspase activity. The results point to possible activation of apoptosis following treatment with hexane extracts.

Plants Used for the Traditional Management of Cancer in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa: A Review of Ethnobotanical Surveys, Ethnopharmacological Studies and Active Phytochemicals

“…Another study by Chinkwo [ 87 ] also revealed that the crude aqueous extract of S. frutescens showed significant cytotoxicity against neoplastic (cervical carcinoma) cells. A separate study conducted by Motadi [ 88 ] also reported that the S. frutescens methanol extract induced growth inhibition of human squamous carcinoma (SiHa cell line), with the IC 50 value of 50 μg/mL. In the same study, the author also indicated that the extract induced cell cycle arrest at the S phase.…”

“…aculeastrum Fruit Methanol and aqueous Tomatidine ( 23 ) and solasodine ( 24 ) Antiproliferative activity against cervical HeLa, breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) and colon adenocarcinoma (HT29) cells by blocking the cell cycle in the G0/G1phase; cytotoxic effect against A2780 ovarian carcinoma, DU145 prostate carcinoma and Sk-Br3 breast adenocarcinoma cells [ 83 , 84 ] 23 Sutherlandia frutescens L. R.Br. Whole plant Methanol and aqueous L-canavanine ( 25 ) Induces apoptosis and cytotoxicity in neoplastic cells (cervical carcinoma) and CHO (Chinese hamster ovary cells) cell lines; induces growth inhibition of human squamous carcinoma (SiHa cell line) thereby causing cell cycle arrest at the S phase [ 87 , 88 ] 24 Tulbaghia violacea Harv Leaves Methanol, hexane, acetone, butanol * Induces apoptosis in breast cancer (MCF7 and MB MDA231), cervical cancer (HeLa and ME-180) and oral cancer (KB) cell lines causing cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase [ 88 ] *: not available. …”

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“…The WHO estimates that approximately 80% of the people rely on traditional medicine for their primary health care 68 . The National Cancer Institute collected about 35,000 plant samples from 20 countries and has screened their extracts for anticancer activity 69 . Traditional types of anti-cancer plants reported were zedoary (Curcuma zedoaria), marijuana (Cannabis sativa), turmeric (Curcuma longa), bamboo grass (Loathatreum gracies), garlic (Allium sativum), sunflower (Helianthus annus), leunca (Solanum nigrum), and bamboo rope (Asparagus cochinchinensis) 70 .…”

Teucrium polium extract‐loaded solid lipid nanoparticles: A design and in vitro anticancer study

“…Various studies have reported that extracts of various types of medicinal plants and their extracted oils have anticancer activities, making their use as beneficial compounds to be considered in today’s societies (Badawi et al., 2018; Sadrnia, 2018). In various studies, the anti‐cancer effects of the extract and plant compounds such as pomegranate (Badawi et al., 2018), Adenosma bracteosum (Bonati) (Nguyen et al., 2020), Eclipta alba (Nelson et al., 2020), Tulbaghia violacea (Motadi et al., 2020), and Orobanche crenata (Hegazy et al., 2020) have been studied and confirmed.…”