Abstract
Objectives: Meconopsis integrifolia (M. integrifolia) is one of the most popular members in Traditional Tibetan Medicine. This study aimed to investigate the anticancer effect of M. integrifolia and to detect the underlying mechanisms of these effects. Methods: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and trypan blue assay were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of M. integrifolia. Changes in cell nuclear morphology and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level were observed by fluorescent microscopy. Apoptosis ratio, DNA damage and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) loss were analyzed by flow cytometry. Western blotting assay was adopted to detect the proteins related to apoptosis. Immunofluorescence was used to observe the release of cytochrome C. Results: The obtained data revealed that M. integrifolia could significantly inhibit K562 cell viability, mainly by targeting apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase. Collapse in cell morphology, chromatin condensation, DNA damage and ROS accumulation were observed. Further mechanism detection revealed that mitochondrion might be a key factor in M. integrifolia-induced apoptosis. Conclusions: M. integrifolia could induce mitochondria mediated apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase with little damage to normal cells, suggesting that M. integrifolia might be a potential and efficient anticancer agent that deserves further investigation.
Highlights
Tibetan medicine is one of the most important ethnic drugs in traditional Chinese medicine and has been popular worldwide, especially in India and Europe
After incubation with M. integrifolia, the cells were analyzed for their proliferation rate, nuclear alteration, cell cycle distribution, caspase activity and mitochondrial damage with the goal of elucidating the underlying mechanism of M. integrifolia induced-apoptosis
We measured K562 cell viability when treated with various doses of M. integrifolia (0, 10, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 μg/mL) at cell densities of 1 × 105 cells/mL
Summary
Tibetan medicine is one of the most important ethnic drugs in traditional Chinese medicine and has been popular worldwide, especially in India and Europe. The genus Papaver (Papaveraceae), one of the most popular stars in Tibetan medicine, comprises approximately 80 types of annual, biennial and perennial herbs, mainly distributed in Central and Southwestern Asia, Central and Southern Europe and North Africa [1,2]. Meconopsis, an endangered genus of ornamental flowers, belongs to the Papaveraceae family. Genus Meconopsis comprises approximately 50 species, wherein, 43 species are mainly distributed in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QPT) and the neighboring mountains, except for a few that inhabit in Europe [4,5]. Meconopsis species have been increasingly attractive for scholars because of their beautiful flowers and their medicinal functions. Meconopsis integrifolia (M. integrifolia) Franch, belonging to the Meconopsis species, was firstly reported to treat hepatitis, pneumonia, and edema in the eighth century. The bright yellow flowers and leaf blade margins of the species make it distinguishable from others [5]
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