Apoptosis mediated cytotoxic potential of Erythrina variegata L. stem bark in human breast carcinoma cell lines

Abstract

Erythrina variegata L. (Fam. Fabaceae) is traditionally known for antitumour, expectorant, febrifuge, antibacterial and antioxidant activities. In the present study, we did cytotoxic evaluation of the methanol extract of E. variegata stem bark (MEV) using 3-(4,5-dimethyl thazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast carcinoma cell lines. The cytological and metabolic alterations due to MEV was evaluated using acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) dual staining, hoechst 33258 and fluoroprobe, benzimidazol-carbocyanine iodide 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetra ethyl (JC-1) staining. The antiapoptotic gene and protein, Bcl-2 expression was analysed using real time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. The methanol extract was investigated for the presence of various phytochemicals using gas chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS). The results revealed a dose dependent cytotoxic activity in both MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast carcinoma cell lines in vitro. The plant extract was effective in inducing apoptotic cell death via mitochondrial dependent intrinsic pathway and may be considered as a potent source for isolating therapeutic molecules against cancer.