Phytochemical compounds from Jurinea macrocephala subsp.elbursensis and their cytotoxicity evaluation

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate phytochemicals of Jurinea macrocephala subsp. elbursensis and determine their cytotoxic activity against human metastatic breast carcinoma (MDA-MB231) and human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cell lines. Normal phase column chromatography on dichloromethane extract of J. macrocephala subsp. elbursensis led to the isolation of three compounds, including two germacranolide-type sesquiterepene lactones, hydroxypectorolide-14-o-acetate (a), 4-hydroxy pectorolide (b), and one furofuran-type lignan, pinoresinol monomethyl ether-β-D-glucoside (PMG) (c). Structures of the isolated compounds were established based on NMR and Mass spectrometry. Full assignments of NMR data of two isolated sesquiterpene lactones were reported for the first time. All the isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against cancer cells using MTT assay at two exposure times. Among them, only compound (c) exhibited a strong activity with the IC50 value of 3.54 μg/ml against HeLa cells. IC50 values in all experiments were reduced by the increasing exposure time from 24 h to 48 h, and cytotoxicity was dependent on compound concentration. Molecular docking predicted that compound (c) could interact with the p53 site residues of the HPV18 E6 ocoprotein in HeLa cells. Therefore it can be considered as a promising agent for future research of cervical cancer.