Abstract
Gynura procumbens (Lour.) Merr. belongs to the Asteraceae Family. The plant is a well-known traditional herb in South East Asia and it is widely used to treat inflammation, kidney discomfort, high cholesterol level, diabetic, cancer and high blood pressure. Our earlier study showed the presence of valuable plant defense proteins, such as peroxidase, thaumatin-like proteins and miraculin in the leaf of G. procumbens. However, the effects of these defense proteins on cancers have never been determined previously. In the present study, we investigated the bioactivity of gel filtration fractionated proteins of G. procumbens leaf extract. The active protein fraction, SN-F11/12, was found to inhibit the growth of a breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231, at an EC50 value of 3.8 µg/mL. The mRNA expressions of proliferation markers, Ki67 and PCNA, were reduced significantly in the MDA-MB-23 cells treated with SN-F11/12. The expression of invasion marker, CCL2, was also found reduced in the treated MDA-MB-231 cells. All these findings highlight the anti-cancer property of SN-F11/12, therefore, the proteins in this fraction can be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer treatment.
Highlights
Many of the currently available drugs are plant-based, and plant peptides and proteins have turned out to be a critical source of biological compounds that exhibited bioactivities which can be exploited as drug
The plant-based products including proteins and small molecular compounds have been suggested as the favorable drugs for cancer treatment in view of the many adverse effects exerted by current cancer treatments, namely chemotherapy and radiation therapy
In vitro bioactivity study indicated that the freeze-dried crude leaf extract of G. procumbens possessed anti-proliferation activity against the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231
Summary
Many of the currently available drugs are plant-based, and plant peptides and proteins have turned out to be a critical source of biological compounds that exhibited bioactivities which can be exploited as drug. The plant-based products including proteins and small molecular compounds have been suggested as the favorable drugs for cancer treatment in view of the many adverse effects exerted by current cancer treatments, namely chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These treatments are costly, which may be a burden to the patients. Plants contain various active ingredients that can be used as medicine for treatments of diseases such as breast cancer [5]. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are regular modes of treatment given to cancer patients, effective treatment for breast cancer remain limited. Significant effort to strive for effective agents from plant should be taken to identify more novel agents for both prevention and treatment of human cancers
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