Abstract
The present investigation was carried out to study the relationship between presence of cytotoxic compounds in Ocimum basilicum, Alhagi maurorum, Calendula officinalis and their parasite Cuscuta campestris. The cytotoxic activity of the pure compounds was performed by MTT assay against breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and normal breast cell line (MCF 10A). The induction of apoptosis was measured by the expression levels of p53, bcl-2, bax and caspase-3 genes using quantitative Real Time PCR. Three active fractions were detected by nuclear magnetic resonance as lutein, lupeol and eugenol, respectively, in C. officinalis, A. maurorum and O. basilicum. These compounds and their epoxidized forms were also detected in their parasite C. campestris. The cytotoxic activity of lutein epoxide, lupeol epoxide and eugenol epoxide was significantly more than lutein, lupeol and eugenol. The mRNA expression level of p53, caspase-3 and bax genes were increased in both cancer cells treated with all pure compounds. However, bcl-2 gene expression decreased in treated breast cancer cells. In conclusion, all the data indicated that the epoxide forms of lupeol, lutein and eugenol are potential drug candidates for inducing apoptosis in human breast cancer cells.
Highlights
Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases among women worldwide and the majority of cases have been reported in Asian countries over the past two PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0116049 December 30, 2014Anticancer Activity of Cuscuta campestris and Its Hosts decades [1]
The present study is focused to evaluate anticancer potential of pure compounds isolated from A. maurorum, C. officinalis, O. basilicum and their parasite C. campestris against breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and MDA-MB231) and human normal breast cancer cell line (MCF 10A)
The most active fraction obtained from O. basilicum was fraction 13, which analyzed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiment as eugenol
Summary
Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases among women worldwide and the majority of cases have been reported in Asian countries over the past two PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0116049 December 30, 2014Anticancer Activity of Cuscuta campestris and Its Hosts decades [1]. Many studies have been carried out worldwide to isolate the active novel compounds from plants for cancer treatment. Several secondary metabolites including alkaloids, polyphenols, flavonoids and triterpenes were purified from medicinal plants [2]. These products cause apoptosis which is modulated by direct or indirect modulating expression of some genes such as p53, bcl and caspase-3 [3, 4]. Campestris are Alhagi maurorum, Calendula officinalis and Ocimum basilicum Medicinal activity of these plants has been subjected by several investigations [11,12,13]. The present study is focused to evaluate anticancer potential of pure compounds isolated from A. maurorum, C. officinalis, O. basilicum and their parasite C. campestris against breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and MDA-MB231) and human normal breast cancer cell line (MCF 10A)
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