Abstract
Eriobotrya japonica leaf is a traditional herbal medicine that contains numerous triterpenes, which have various pharmacological properties. In this study, we investigated the anti-proliferative activity of four triterpenes derived from E. japonica, including corosolic acid (CA), ursolic acid (UA), maslinic acid (MA) and oleanolic acid (OA), in human leukemia cell lines. CA showed the strongest anti-proliferative activity in all of the leukemia cell lines tested, but not in normal human skin fibroblast cell lines. To determine the mechanism underlying the anti-proliferative effect of CA, we examined the effect of CA on molecular events known as apoptosis induction. CA induced chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, sub-G1 phase DNA, activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9 and the cleavage of PARP in HL-60. CA also activated Bid and Bax, leading to the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) and cytochrome c release into the cytosol, whereas Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL were unaffected by CA. These results suggest that CA has an anti-proliferative effect on leukemia cells via the induction of apoptosis mediated by mitochondrial dysfunction and caspase activation. CA may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of human leukemia.
Highlights
Eriobotrya japonica Lindl., known as loquat, is a fruit tree in the Rosaceae family
We investigated the anti-proliferative effects of the major triterpenes from E. japonica leaves, i.e., corosolic acid (CA), ursolic acid (UA), maslinic acid (MA) and oleanolic acid (OA), on four human leukemia cell lines
Since E. japonica leaves contain various kinds of triterpenes, we performed a fingerprinting of triterpenes contained in E. japonica leaves by HPLC to confirm the importance of quality control of E. japonica
Summary
Eriobotrya japonica Lindl., known as loquat, is a fruit tree in the Rosaceae family. The anti-proliferative activities against cancer cells by triterpenes contained in E. japonica leaves are not fully understood. It was reported that the major triterpenes from E. japonica leaves are ursane types, such as corosolic acid (CA) and ursolic acid (UA), and oleanane types, such as maslinic acid (MA) and oleanolic acid (OA) (Figure 1) [16,17] These major triterpenes show anti-proliferative activities against gastric cancer cells (NCI-N87), colorectal cancer (HCT15), cervical cancer (HeLa), glioblastoma (U291, U373 and T98G) and colon cancer (HT29) cell lines [18,19,20,21,22,23]. We investigated the anti-proliferative effects of the major triterpenes from E. japonica leaves, i.e., CA, UA, MA and OA, on four human leukemia cell lines. We investigated the molecular mechanism of CA-induced apoptosis using HL-60 cell lines
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
