Quillaja saponaria saponin is causing an anti-ecdysteroid action in insect cells that may be explained by cytotoxicity and permeation

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Quillaja saponaria saponin is causing an anti-ecdysteroid action in insect cells that may be explained by cytotoxicity and permeation Guy Smagghe1*, Ellen De Geyter1, 2, Danny Geelen1, Thomas Soin1 and Luc Swevers3 1 Ghent University, Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Belgium 2 Ghent University, Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Belgium 3 National Centre of Scientific Research ‘Demokritos’, Institute of Biology, Greece In this project we studied the cytotoxic effects of the triterpenoid (five-ringed) saponin of the oleanane-glucuronide-type from the soapbark tree Quillaja saponaria. In a first series of experiments, we transfected S2 observed a concentration dependence for the ecdysteroid responsiveness of the cells when these were transfected with an EcR-reporter construct. There was no activation of the EcR-signaling, but we demonstrated a typical loss of ecdysteroid signaling at low concentrations with a respective IC50 of 1.7 µM and 0.68 µM. A concentration-dependent change in cell survival was observed when insect cells of Drosophila melanogaster (S2, embryo) and Bombyx more (Bm5, ovary) were incubated. A loss of 50% of cell survival (LC50) was observed at 5.1 µM and 1.7 µM, respectively, in an MTT bioassay. The cell permeation was also confirmed in a trypan blue assay. To explain the latter anti-ecdysteroid action we investigated be explained by the cytotoxic and permeation action. In addition, it was of interest that saponin effects were counteracted with addition of cholesterol to the cell culture medium. Finally, caspase 3-like measurements showed that Quillaja saponin could not induce nuclear events as apoptosis in treated cells. Our results suggest that the loss of ecdysteroid responsiveness after the addition of Quillaja saponin could thus be result of a cytotoxic permeation action and not by interacting with the EcR. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Special Research Fund of Ghent University, and the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO-Vlaanderen, Brussels) Keywords: comparative endocrinology Conference: 25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists, Pécs, Hungary, 31 Aug - 4 Sep, 2010. Presentation Type: Conference Presentation Topic: Comparative endocrinology Citation: Smagghe G, Geyter E, Geelen D, Soin T and Swevers L (2010). Quillaja saponaria saponin is causing an anti-ecdysteroid action in insect cells that may be explained by cytotoxicity and permeation. Front. Endocrinol. Conference Abstract: 25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists. doi: 10.3389/conf.fendo.2010.01.00063 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Aug 2010; Published Online: 29 Aug 2010. * Correspondence: Dr. Guy Smagghe, Ghent University, Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent, Belgium, guy.smagghe@ugent.be Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Guy Smagghe Ellen De Geyter Danny Geelen Thomas Soin Luc Swevers Google Guy Smagghe Ellen De Geyter Danny Geelen Thomas Soin Luc Swevers Google Scholar Guy Smagghe Ellen De Geyter Danny Geelen Thomas Soin Luc Swevers PubMed Guy Smagghe Ellen De Geyter Danny Geelen Thomas Soin Luc Swevers Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.