One of the characteristics of cancer is that the lack of oxygen in the cancer
cells triggers changes in their gene expression. This hypoxia activates
hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha and this in turn sets in motion the whole
family of important angiogenic genes for the tumour. Hypoxia-inducible
factor 1-alpha therefore increases the density and vascular permeability
within the tumours, facilitating their rapid growth and, later, the
metastasis. Senecio graveolens is a South American medicinal plant
commonly used for mountain sickness (lack of adaptation of the organism to
hypoxia). Additionally, pharmacological studies showed that its alcoholic
extracts have cytotoxic properties.This research aimed to perform a guided phytochemical study of S.
graveolens to identify compounds capable of inhibiting
hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha through suppression of nuclear factor
kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cell activation. The isolation led
to the characterisation of phanurane (1), damsine (2), and scoparone (3),
first reported in the S. graveolens species.Phanurane (1 ) showed inhibitory activity of hypoxia-inducible factor
1-alpha on the cancer cell lines U-373 MG
(IC50=20.66±0.04 μM),
A549 (IC50=25.80±0.04 μM),
Hep G2
(IC50=29.21±0.03 μM), and
Caco-2
(IC50=38.58±0.02 μM).
Damsine (2) hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha displayed inhibitory
activity of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha on the cancer cell lines U-373
MG (IC50=2.29±0.07 μM),
A549 (IC50=4.13±0.04 μM),
Hep G2
(IC50=6.40±0.03 μM), and
Caco-2
(IC50=9.80±0.04 μM).
Finally, scoparone (3) displayed inhibitory activity of
hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha on the cancer cell lines U-373 MG
(IC50=15.22±0.01 μM),
A549 (IC50=17.47±0.02 μM),
Hep G2
(IC50=18.26±0.06 μM), and
Caco-2
(IC50=19.75±0.04 μM).In addition, phanurane (1 ) displayed inhibitory activity over nuclear
factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells on cancer cell lines
U-373 MG
(IC50=7.13±0.03 μM), A549
(IC50=8.64±0.03 μM),
Hep G2
(IC50=8.87±0.04 μM), and
Caco-2
(IC50=15.11±0.01 μM).
Likewise, damsine (2) showed inhibitory activity over nuclear factor
kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells on cancer cell lines U-373
MG (IC50=2.28±0.01 μM),
A549 (IC50=3.79±0.02 μM),
Hep G2
(IC50=3.98±0.05 μM), and
Caco-2
(IC50=6.41±0.02 μM).
Lastly, scoparone (3) displayed inhibitory activity of nuclear factor
kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells on cancer cell lines U-373
MG (IC50=3.62±0.06 μM),
A549 (IC50=4.48±0.03 μM),
Hep G2
(IC50=5.25±0.01 μM), and
Caco-2
(IC50=11.90±0.02 μM).This study corroborates the cytotoxic activity of the isolated compounds
through the inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha as well as its
modulator nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B
cells.