Effects of karanjin on cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human A549, HepG2 and HL-60 cancer cells

BACKGROUND: We have investigated the potential anticancer effects of karanjin, a principal furanoflavonol constituent of the Chinese medicine Fordia cauliflora, using cytotoxic assay, cell cycle arrest, and induction of apoptosis in three human cancer cell lines (A549, HepG2 and HL-60 cells). RESULTS: MTT cytotoxic assay showed that karanjin could inhibit the proliferation and viability of all three cancer cells. The induction of cell cycle arrest was observed via a PI (propidium iodide)/RNase Staining Buffer detection kit and analyzed by flow cytometry: karanjin could dose-dependently induce cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase in the three cell lines. Cell apoptosis was assessed by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining: all three cancer cells treated with karanjin exhibited significantly increased apoptotic rates, especially in the percentage of late apoptosis cells. CONCLUSION: Karanjin can induce cancer cell death through cell cycle arrest and enhance apoptosis. This compound may be effective clinically for cancer pharmacotherapy.

Antioxidant activity of mojabanchromanol, a novel chromene, isolated from brown alga Sargassum siliquastrum.

Silica gel chromatography HPLC, El-Mass, and NMR analyses were performed in order to determine the structure obtained from the separation and refinement of the main components of an ethanol extraction of Sargassum siliquastrum, which indicated its antioxidant activity An ethanol extraction of Sargassum siliquastrum demonstrated the strongest antioxidant activities of ethyl acetate when isolated by silica gel chromatography This amounts to 84.9 +/- 1.2% of its 0.5 mg ml(-1) concentration. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) measurements from 3 isolations of an HPLC separation of ethyl acetate showed that the antioxidant activity of peak 2 was the most dominant at 84.08% in a 0.5 mg ml(-1) concentration. Peak 2 was verified as a type of chromene through El-Mass and NMR analysis. Its metal sealing characteristic was low while its characteristic of TBARS and DPPH erasure indicated similar or higher levels of metal sealing characteristic. The NMR spectroscopic data was used to elucidate the structure of this new compound, which showed strong antioxidant activity in the assay.