Abstract
Dioscorea spp., White Yam has been shown to exhibit a wide range of nutritional and medicinal properties. However, the compounds associated with its medicinal functions have not been fully examined. The purpose of this study was to generate a chemoinformatic profile of the bioactive compounds present in Dioscorea. alata (D. alata) and to characterize their putative anti-cancer properties using prostate (DU145) and lung (A549) cancer cells. Chemoinformatic profiling of D. alata resulted in five bioactive extracts: hexane (DaJa-1), ether (DaJa-2), acetone (DaJa-3), ethanol (DaJa-4) and water (DaJa-5) were generated. The analytes present in the five bioactive extracts were dissolved in 0.1% DMSO and their anti-cancer activity were determined. We observed that the acetone extract (DaJa3) was the only extract capable of inducing greater than 90% cell death of DU 145 cell at 100 μg/mL. The order of growth inhibition of the extracts in DU-145 cell is DaJa-3 (IC50, 31.45 μg/mL) > DaJa-4 (IC50 60 μg/mL) > DaJa-1 (IC50 > 100 μg/mL) ≥ DaJa-2 (IC50 > 100 μg/mL) ≥ DaJa-5 (IC50 > 100 μg/mL). MTT cell viability, dye exclusion, caspase activity and microscopic assessment of apoptotic cells demonstrated that DaJa-3 displayed cytotoxicity to both lung and prostate cancer cells. The A549 cells were more sensitive toward DaJa-3 with an IC50 value of 22.28 μg/mL (CI 28.42 to 36.63 μg/mL), compared to that of DU145 cells with an IC50 value of 31.45 μg/mL (CI 27.58 to 35.86 μg/mL). It was also observed that DaJa-3 induces differential anti-proliferative activity in the cancer cells. The apoptotic response induced by DaJa-3 paralleled the level of cell cytotoxicity observed in both cell lines. DaJa-3 induces G2 phase cell cycle arrest in DU145 cells but G1 arrest in A549 cells. The level of key apoptotic regulator proteins was upregulated, suggested that DaJa-3 may be mediating its anti-cancer effect through activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Altogether, our data indicates that DaJa-3 derived from a staple food source (white Yam) contains unique active compounds that have specific biological properties that may prevent certain types of cancer or specific types of cancer.
Highlights
Dioscorea spp. is the third most important tuber crop behind cassava and sweet potato in West Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean [1]
The A549 cells were more sensitive toward DaJa-3 with an IC50 value of 22.28 μg/mL (CI 28.42 to 36.63 μg/mL), compared to that of DU145 cells with an IC50 value of 31.45 μg/mL (CI 27.58 to 35.86 μg/mL)
Dioscorea alata is the Jamaican native of this genus and the roots and rhizomes of this species are known as White Yam
Summary
Dioscorea spp. is the third most important tuber crop behind cassava and sweet potato in West Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean [1]. Yam is included among the top five food crop species contributing to 99% of the world production and ranks number four in the world after potatoes (46%), cassava (28%), and sweet potato (18%), followed by taro (1%) [2]. Dioscorea alata is the Jamaican native of this genus and the roots and rhizomes of this species are known as White Yam. The D. alata varieties have been proven to contain a great variety of macro and micronutrients, especially high potassium and low sodium content [3]. Yam tubers have a variety of bioactive components, namely: mucin, dioscin, dioscorin, allantoin, choline, polyphenols, diosgenin, and vitamins such as carotenoids and tocopherols [4]
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