Antiproliferative and Antimicrobial Activities of Selected Bryophytes.

Martin Vollár,András Gyovai,Dezső Csupor,Anikó Vecsernyés,Attila Csorba,Edit Urbán,Boglárka Csupor-Löffler,Péter Bérdi,Marianna Marschall,István Zupkó,Péter Szűcs,Erika Liktor-Busa

doi:10.3390/molecules23071520

Abstract

One-hundred and sixty-eight aqueous and organic extracts of 42 selected bryophyte species were screened in vitro for antiproliferative activity on a panel of human gynecological cancer cell lines containing HeLa (cervix epithelial adenocarcinoma), A2780 (ovarian carcinoma), and T47D (invasive ductal breast carcinoma) cells using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and for antibacterial activity on 11 strains using the disc-diffusion method. A total of 99 extracts derived from 41 species exerted ≥25% inhibition of proliferation of at least one of the cancer cell lines at 10 μg/mL. In the cases of Brachythecium rutabulum, Encalypta streptocarpa, Climacium dendroides, Neckera besseri, Pleurozium schreberi, and Pseudoleskeella nervosa, more than one extract was active in the antiproliferative assay, whereas the highest activity was observed in the case of Paraleucobryum longifolium. From the tested families, Brachytheciaceae and Amblystegiaceae provided the highest number of antiproliferative extracts. Only 19 samples of 15 taxa showed moderate antibacterial activity, including the most active Plagiomnium cuspidatum, being active on 8 tested strains. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus aureus were the most susceptible to the assayed species. This is the first report on the bioactivities of these 14 species.

Highlights

In the era of drug development based on high-throughput pharmacological screening, there is an increasing demand for molecules to be tested
In the course of the in vitro screening for antiproliferative and antimicrobial activities, 168 extracts belonging to 42 bryophyte species, 35 genera, and 20 families were evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and the disc-diffusion method, respectively
The antiproliferative activities of the extracts were assessed on human cervical (HeLa), ovarian (A2780), and breast (T47D) cancer cell lines using two final concentrations

Summary

Introduction

In the era of drug development based on high-throughput pharmacological screening, there is an increasing demand for molecules to be tested. Two of the most important research topics in drug development are anticancer agents and antibiotics. The burden of microbial infections, most devastating in developing countries, is increasing in Western countries as a result of spreading antibiotic resistance. Having these in mind, together with the fact that 65% of antibiotics and 35% of anticancer agents registered between 1980 and 2010 were natural products or semisynthetic derivatives thereof, the investigation of possible new sources for bioactive natural products is of primary importance

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