6533b836fe1ef96bd12a1543

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Activity of three cytotoxic isoflavonoids from Erythrina excelsa and Erythrina senegalensis (neobavaisoflavone, sigmoidin H and isoneorautenol) toward multi-factorial drug resistant cancer cells

subject

description

Abstract Introduction Resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapy has become a worldwide concern. Naturally occuring isoflavonoids possess a variety of biological activities including anti-cancer effects. The present study was aimed at investigating the cytotoxicity and the modes of action of three naturally occuring isoflavonoids, neobavaisoflavone ( 1 ), sigmoidin H ( 2 ) and a pterocarpan that is a special type of isoflavonoid, isoneorautenol ( 3 ) against a panel of nine cancer cell lines, including various sensitive and drug-resistant phenotypes. Methods The cytotoxicity of the compounds was determined using a resazurin reduction assay, whereas the caspase-Glo assay was used to detect the activation of caspases 3/7, caspase 8 and caspase 9 in cells treated with compounds 3 . Flow cytometry was used for cell cycle analysis and detection of apoptotic cells, analysis of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) as well as measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Results Compounds 3 showed significant cytotoxicity toward sensitive and drug-resistant cancer cell lines. Compounds 1 and 2 were selectively active, and IC50 values below 115 μM were obtained on 6/9 and 4/9 cell lines respectively with values ranging from 42.93 μM (toward CCRF-CEM cells) to 114.64 μM [against HCT116 ( p53 +/+ ) cells] for 1 and 25.59 μM (toward U87MG) to 110.51 μM [against HCT116 ( p53 +/+ ) cells] for 2. IC50 values ranging from 2.67 μM (against MDA-MB 237BCRP cells) to 21.84 (toward U87MG) were measured for compound 3 and between 0.20 μM (toward CCRF-CEM cells) and 195.12 μM (toward CEM/ADR5000 cells) for doxorubicin as control drug. BCRP-transfected MDA-MB-231 cells, HCT116 ( p53 +/+ ) and U87MG.Δ EGFR cells were hypersensitive (collateral sensitive) to compound 3 as compared to their counterpart cell lines. Compound 3 induced apoptosis in CCRF-CEM cells via activation of caspases 3/7, 8 and 9 as well as the loss of MMP and increased ROS production. Conclusions The cytotoxicity of the studied isoflavonoids and especially the pterocarpan 3 deserve more detailed exploration in the future to develop novel anticancer drugs against sensitive and otherwise drug-resistant phenotypes.