Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Activities of Methanolic Subfractions of Scrophularia oxysepala against Human Breast Cancer Cell Line

Abstract

Herbs have played a positive role in medicine for thousands of years. In the current study, we investigated the cytotoxicity effects of Scrophularia oxysepala methanolic subfractions and the underlying mechanism responsible for cell death in human breast carcinoma (MCF-7 cells) and mouse fibrosarcoma (WEHI-164 cells). From 60% and 80% methanolic fractions, four subfractions (Fa, Fb, Fc, and Fd), yielded from size exclusion by Sephadex-LH20 column chromatography, were chosen. MTT assay revealed that all subfractions significantly reduced cell viability after 24 h and 36 h in a dose-dependent manner; it is worth noting that Fa and Fb subfractions had the highest cytotoxicity, with IC50 values of 52.9 and 61.2 μg/mL in MCF-7 at 24 h, respectively. ELISA, TUNEL, and DNA fragmentation assay revealed that antiproliferative effects of all subfractions were associated with apoptosis on cancer cells, without any significant effect on L929 normal cells. qRT-PCR data showed that, after 24 h treatment with IC50 concentrations of the subfractions, caspase-3 expression was increased in cancer cells while the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased. S. oxysepala methanolic subfractions induce apoptosis in MCF-7 and WEHI-164 cells and could be considered as a source of natural anticancer agents.

In vitro assays and techniques utilized in anticancer drug discovery

“…Cleavage of PARP by caspase-3 in Sanguiin H-6, an ellagitannin, treated MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells has been examined in this study. Use of real-time PCR and western blotting in detecting activation of caspases in cancer cells has also been reported in a number of published studies(Orangi et al, 2016;Pilco- Ferreto & Calaf, 2016;Sharula & Wu, 2017). Major events associated with apoptosis and commonly used assays and techniques for the detection of apoptosis are shown inFigure 3.…”

Middle Eastern Plant Extracts: An Alternative to Modern Medicine Problems

“…The plant Scrophularia has been identified for various bioactivities, such as antimicrobial activity and also anti-cancer and anti-tumor. A similar study was conducted against human breast cancer cell line using methanolic sub-fractions (Fa, Fb, Fc, and Fd) of Scrophularia oxysepala [109]. The amount of the sub-fractions was: 1) Fa: 68 mg; 2) Fb: 85 mg; 3) Fc: 60 mg; and 4) Fd: 53 mg.…”

Apoptosis and Caspase 3 Pathway Role on Anti-Proliferative Effects of Scrophulariaoxy Sepala Methanolic Extract on Caco-2 Cells

“…Capecitabine (Xeloda®) was purchased from Hoffmann-La Roche, Basle, Switzerland. Dose selection for chemical agents and methanolic extracts of SO was based on previous studies [7,14,17,18].…”

“…Contemporary research is now applying scientific methods to investigate traditional ecological knowledge and the positive linkages between herbal remedies and their efficacy in treating tumors have led to new avenues in rediscovering traditional knowledge through science [4][5][6]. This trend has led to the discovery of novel compounds and their derivatives such as paclitaxel, vinblastine, vincristine, etoposide, camptothecin all of which have been derived from natural sources [7,8]. Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants distributed around the world, especially, in North America and Asia, which con-…”

“…Different Scrophularia species have shown therapeutic effects in inflammatory diseases, psoriasis, oxidative stress situation, anti-bacterial and wound healing [10][11][12][13]. Recently the effects of S. oxysepala on some kinds of cancer cell lines have been reported [4,7,14], but its effects on gastrointestinal malignancies and colorectal cancer is not studied yet.…”