Eupalitin from Asparagus falcatus (Linn.) has anti-cancer activity and induces activation of caspases 3/7 in human colorectal tumor cells Raza Murad Ghalib1*, Sayed Hasan Mehdi2, Rokiah Hashim2, Othman Sulaiman2, Fiona How Ni Foong1, B. M. Khadeer Ahamed3, Amin Malik Shah Abdul Majid3 and Faiyaz Ahmed4
1Department of Chemistry, Kulliyaah of Science, IIUM, Kuantan, Malaysia. 2School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden–11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. 3Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden–11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. 4Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Govt of India, Pudukkottai Road, Thanjavur 613 005, Tamil Nadu, India.
Abstract
3,5,4′-Trihydroxy-6,7-dimethoxy-flavone (Eupalitin) has been isolated from the leaves of Asparagus falcatus (Linn.). Anti-proliferation and apoptosis studies were conducted on eupalitin. Results showed that eupalitin exhibited significant cytotoxicity against human colorectal tumor cells. It is found that eupalitin induces the activation of caspases 3/7, a hallmark of apoptosis. The study suggests that the anti-proliferative property of eupalitin towards the human colorectal tumor cells may be probably due to its capability to induce apoptosis in cells.
Conclusion
In the present study, we report for the first time that eupalitin has significant ability to inhibit the proliferation of human colorectal cancer cells by activating the caspase 3/7 cascade......