Bursera microphylla (BM), one of the common elephant trees, is widely distributed in the Sonoran desert in Mexico. TheSeri ethnic group in the Sonoran desert uses BM as an anti-inflammatory and painkiller drug for the treatment of sorethroat, herpes labialis, abscessed tooth, and wound healing. Dried stems and leaves of BM are used in a tea to relieve painfulurination and to stimulate bronchial secretion. Furthermore, BM is used for fighting venereal diseases. To investigate theeffects of the hexane fraction of resin methanol extract (BM-H) on cell growth, the acute myeloid cell line (OCI-AML3) wastreated with 250, 25, or 2.5 μg/mL of BM-H. The first 2 concentrations were able to significantly decrease OCI-AML3 cellnumber. This reduced cell number was associated with decreased S-phase, blockade of G2/M phase of the cell cycle, andincreased cell death. Similar results were obtained on all tested tumor cell lines of different origins. We found that blockadeof the cell cycle was a result of upregulation of p21 protein in a p53-independent way. Increase of p21 was possibly aresult of upstream upregulation of p-ERK (which stabilizes p21 protein) and downregulation of p-38 (which promotesits degradation). Regarding cell death, activation of caspase-3, but not of caspase-8 or -9, was detectable after BM-Htreatment. In conclusion, these data suggest that BM-H inhibited proliferation of cell lines mainly by a p21-dependent, p53-independent mechanism and promoted apoptosis through activation of caspase-3 but not caspase-8 or -9.
The hexane fraction of Bursera microphylla A. Gray induces p21-mediated anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in human cancer-derived cell lines
Fierabracci A;
2017-01-01
Abstract
Bursera microphylla (BM), one of the common elephant trees, is widely distributed in the Sonoran desert in Mexico. TheSeri ethnic group in the Sonoran desert uses BM as an anti-inflammatory and painkiller drug for the treatment of sorethroat, herpes labialis, abscessed tooth, and wound healing. Dried stems and leaves of BM are used in a tea to relieve painfulurination and to stimulate bronchial secretion. Furthermore, BM is used for fighting venereal diseases. To investigate theeffects of the hexane fraction of resin methanol extract (BM-H) on cell growth, the acute myeloid cell line (OCI-AML3) wastreated with 250, 25, or 2.5 μg/mL of BM-H. The first 2 concentrations were able to significantly decrease OCI-AML3 cellnumber. This reduced cell number was associated with decreased S-phase, blockade of G2/M phase of the cell cycle, andincreased cell death. Similar results were obtained on all tested tumor cell lines of different origins. We found that blockadeof the cell cycle was a result of upregulation of p21 protein in a p53-independent way. Increase of p21 was possibly aresult of upstream upregulation of p-ERK (which stabilizes p21 protein) and downregulation of p-38 (which promotesits degradation). Regarding cell death, activation of caspase-3, but not of caspase-8 or -9, was detectable after BM-Htreatment. In conclusion, these data suggest that BM-H inhibited proliferation of cell lines mainly by a p21-dependent, p53-independent mechanism and promoted apoptosis through activation of caspase-3 but not caspase-8 or -9.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
