In vitroAntitumor Mechanisms of VariousScutellariaExtracts and Constituent Flavonoids

Abstract

Scutellaria is a traditional herbal remedy with potential anti-cancer activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate anticancer mechanisms of thirteen Scutellaria species and analyze their leaf, stem and root extracts for levels of common biologically active flavonoids: apigenin, baicalein, baicalin, chrysin, scutellarein, and wogonin. Malignant glioma, breast carcinoma and prostate cancer cells were used to determine tumor-specific effects of Scutellaria on cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle progression, via the MTT assay and flow cytometry-based apoptosis and cell cycle analysis. The extracts and individual flavonoids inhibited the proliferation of malignant glioma and breast carcinoma cells without affecting primary or non-malignant cells. The flavonoids exhibited different mechanisms of anti-tumor activity as well as positive interactions. The antitumor mechanisms involved induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G1/G2. Of the extracts tested, leaf extracts of S. angulosa, S. integrifolia, S. ocmulgee and S. scandens were found to have strong anticancer activity. This study provides basis for further mechanistic and translational studies into adjuvant therapy of malignant tumors using Scutellaria leaf tissues.

The downregulation of c‑Myc and its target gene hTERT is associated with the antiproliferative effects of baicalin on HL‑60 cells

“…Following baicalin (20 µg/ml) treatment for different durations, cells (3x10 5 ) were washed twice with ice-cold PBS, and fixed in cold 75% ethanol at 4˚C for at least 24 h. Then, the cells were rinsed with PBS, and resuspended using 0.5 mg/ml RNaseA and 20 µg/ml propidium iodide (PI) prior to incubation for 20 min at room temperature in the dark. Subsequently, the cells were analyzed using an Elite-ESP flow cytometer (Beckman Coulter, Inc., Brea, CA, USA).…”

“…1A), a Chinese traditional medicinal herb used as an anti-inflammatory (1), antibacterial, anxiolytic and hepatoprotective drug (2). Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that baicalin exhibits potent antitumor properties by suppressing cell growth, arresting the cell cycle and inducing differentiation or apoptosis in leukemia cell lines (3,4), without affecting primary, or normal cells (5), which raises the possibility of using baicalin to treat patients with leukemia. Baicalin has been documented to induce apoptosis of the Jurkat T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cell line via the mitochondrial pathway, which involves marginal generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), an increase in the cytosolic fractions of cytochrome c and disruption of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (∆Ψm) (6).…”

Wogonin triggers apoptosis in human osteosarcoma U-2 OS cells through the endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and caspase-3-dependent signaling pathways

“…Flavonoids, one of the most common active ingredients of medicinal herbs, possess pharmacological properties including anti-infammatory (5,6), antioxidant (7), and antitumor (8,9) activities. Wogonin (5,7-dihydroxy-8-methoxyflavone, C 16 H 12 O 5 ) is one of the active ingredients extracted from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi.…”

Wogonin and neobaicalein from Scutellaria litwinowii roots are apoptotic for HeLa cells

“…Recent pharmacologic researches have confi rmed that total extracts or fl avonoids of the genus Scutellaria possess anti-lipoperoxidation, anti-platelet, antiinfl ammatory, antitumor, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral activities (Ye et al, 2004;Parajuli et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2006;Burnett et al, 2007;Sonoda et al, 2004). In general, fl avonoids are the most crucial class of compounds that have been isolated from several species of Scutellaria (Malikov & Yuldashev, 2002).…”