Methanolic extract of Abrus precatorius promotes breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell death by inducing cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 and upregulating Bax

Objective:To determine the anti-proliferative activity of Abrus precatorius(A.precatorius)leaf extracts and their effect on cell death.Methods:A.precatorius leaves were extracted successively with hexane,ethyl acetate and methanol by Soxhlet extraction.Aqueous extract was prepared by decoction at 50 ℃.Extracts of A.precatorius leaves were used to treat selected cancer and normal cell lines for72 h.Furthermore,3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay was performed to determine cell viability.Analysis of cell cycle arrest,apoptosis assay and apoptosis protein expressions were determined by flow cytometry.Results:Methanolic extract of A.precatorius leaves showed the lowest IC50 on MDA-MB-231 cells at(26.40±5.40)μg/mL.Flow cytometry analysis revealed that cell arrest occurred at G0/G1 phase and the apoptosis assay showed the occurrence of early apoptosis at 48 h in MDAMB-231 cells treated with methanolic extract of A.precatorius leaves.Methanolic extract of A.precatorius leaves induced apoptosis by upregulation of Bax,p53 and caspase-3 and downregulation of Bcl-2.Conclusions:Methanolic extract of A precatorius leaves promotes MDA-MB-231 cell death by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis possibly via the mitochondrial-related pathway.

Phytocompounds of Anonna muricata leaves extract and cytotoxic effects on breast cancer cells

Objective: To identify the phytochemical compounds from Annona muricata(A. muricata) and to determine their in vitro anti-proliferative activities against breast cancer cells, MCF7 and MDA-MB-231. Methods: A. muricata leaves were successively extracted by soxhlet method using n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol, and decocted with water. Each extract was analysed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry(GCMS) and characterized with Wiley and NIST library searches. Anti-proliferative activity of each extract was evaluated on MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells using MTT assay. Results: The GCMS analysis of different solvent extracts of A. muricata leaves showed presence of different chemical groups of compounds such as steroids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, sugars, sugars alcohol and others including vitamin E. Ethyl acetate leaves extract exhibited the lowest IC_(50) value on the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell and n-hexane leaves extract showed the the lowest IC_(50) value on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell. Conclusion: Steroids and phenolic compounds were the main phytocompound groups identified from all A. muricata leaves extracts. The antiproliferative activity of n-hexane and ethyl acetate extract towards breast cancer MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 respectively might be due to the presence of biologically active compounds in the extracts, hence, providing some scientific evidences of the effectiveness of its traditional usages.