The Bioactive Properties of Acetone Extract of Cola Acuminata in Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of death in women in the United States. Currently there are many treatment options, however the side effects associated with these treatments usually result in a decrease in the standard of life. Previously we reported the identification of a bioactive fraction from the natural product Cola Acuminata (Biz‐3) which is capable of inhibiting cancer cells. In this study we tested the hypothesis that bioactive substances in the Cola Acuminata (Biz‐3) extract contains compounds that may provide a natural treatment option for BC. Thus, our objective was to isolate the bioactive compound from the Biz‐3 and reveal which ones are responsible for inhibiting the MCF 7 breast cancer cell growth. The Biz‐3 extract was isolated using SPE reverse phase chromatography and the resulting analytes of interest were characterized using a combination of thin layer chromatography and UV‐Vis chromatography and a MTT cell inhibitory assay. Elution of the SPE column with solvents of increasing polarity resulted in three distinct ethanol peaks with the majority of the analytes appearing in the 70% ethanol fraction. UV‐Vis spectrum reveals that Biz‐3 contains at least five different compounds absorbing between 210 and 265nn. To determine in which of the SPE peaks the cell inhibitory activity co‐eluted, MCF‐7 cells were induces with different concentrations of the SPE peaks for 1, 3 and 5 days. Our preliminary data suggests that the growth inhibitory activity co‐elutes with the 30% SPE ethanol peak. However, we observed a stimulation of the MCF‐7 cell growth in the presence of the 70% and 100% SPE ethanol peaks. Our overall results demonstrate that the bioactivity present in Biz‐3 can be isolated using SPE and it's likely that two different bioactive compounds are present in Cola Acuminate.Support or Funding InformationNIH grant, Grant No. NIH R15AT006821