Anti‐tumor activity of the ethanolic extract of Micromeria fruticosa on human breast and colon cancer cells

Abstract

Micromeria fruticosa (L.) Druce subsp. Serpyllifolia (Lamiaceae) is a perennial, aromatic shrub that usually distributed in the Mediterranean regions. The aerial parts of the plant are widely used to treat many diseases, including abdominal pains, diarrhea, colds, eye infections, heart disorders and wounds. A few reports have confirmed various therapeutic potentialities of its extract, such as anti‐inflammatory, gastroprotective, analgesic activities, antiobesity, and antidiabetic activities.AimTo investigate the mechanistic pathway for the antitumor activity of the ethanolic extract of M. fruticosa on two different cancer cell lines, namely human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF‐7), human colorectal cancer (HCT‐116) cell lines.MethodsCell viability assay, DNA profile with PI staining, Annexin‐V/PI apoptosis assay, microarray analysis, qRT‐PCR were used to assess the effect of M. fruticosa on cytotoxicity, cell cycle proliferation, apoptosis, and genes expression profile in treated cell lines.ResultsM. fruticosa is found to exhibit potential and effective cytotoxic activity against MCF‐7 and HCT‐116 cancer cell lines by attenuating cell proliferation and inducing cell cycle arrest. Microarray analysis revealed a significant reduction in cdk1, cyclin B1 and survivin levels upon M. fruticosa treatment. The qRT‐PCR confirmed the downregulation of cdk1, cyclin B1 that correlates with the observed G2 arrest in both cell lines. Moreover, results showed that the decreased levels of the cell death inhibitor, survivin is correlated to the promoted cell death in the treated cell lines.ConclusionThe findings suggest promising antiproliferative potential Micromeria fruticosa in breast and colon cancers. Further studies are needed to characterize the potential active constituent.Support or Funding InformationThis research was funded by University of Sharjah Seed Grant no.1701090113‐P and UOS‐Boehringer Ingelheim award.