Phytochemicals from Corchorus olitorius methanolic extract induce apoptotic cell death via activation of caspase-3, anti-Bcl-2 activity, and DNA degradation in breast and lung cancer cell lines

Abstract

ObjectivesThe main objective of the present research is to provide GC–MS and LC-MS phytochemcial profiling of Corchorus olitorius along with Flow cytometry based mechanistic investigation of cytotoxic activity of its extracts against breast and lung cancer cell lines. MethodsThe Soxhlet extraction method was used in the sequential extraction of C. olitorius. The phytochemical profiling was done using LC-MS and GC–MS techniques, and total phenolic and flavonoid content was determined. The cytotoxicity was studied against non-cancerous L929 cells and cancerous MCF-7 and A549 cell lines using MTT assay, followed by flow cytometry based molecular mechanisms study through anti-Bcl-2 assay, Caspase-3, and DNA fragmentation (TUNEL assay). ResultsThe C. olitorius methanolic extract showed the phenolic compounds and flavonoids as a major constituents with 699 µg GAE/g of dw and 1361.50 µg QE/g of dw, respectively. The GC–MS and LC-MS results confirmed the presence of active phytochemicals. Toxicity study against L929 cell line revealed that methanol extract proved to be less toxic with a higher IC50 value i.e. 227.84 µg/ml. Cell viability MTT assay for methanol extract against MCF-7 and A549 cell lines revealed significant results with IC50 values of 20 µg/ml and 12.45 µg/ml, respectively. The flow cytometry based molecular marker studies showed that the extract successively induced early and late apoptosis in tested breast and lung cancer cells through activation of Caspase-3 with inhibition of Bcl-2 protein and induced cell death through DNA damage. ConclusionCollectively, these findings show that the methanol extract of C. olitorius inhibits breast cancer and lung cancer cell lines with significant cytotoxic activity. Thus, C. olitorius would be a promising source of chemopreventive agents that warrant further investigation to find lead compounds with cancer chemotherapeutic potential.