Effects of Colchicum baytopiorum leaf extract on cytotoxicity and cell death pathways in C-4 I and Vero cell lines.

PURPOSE: The present study aimed to research the cytotoxic effects of Colchicum baytopiorum extract on normal and cancerous cells and reveal the cell death mechanisms in cancerous cells triggered by this effect. METHODS: Within this framework, the cells' index values obtained with an xCELLigence Real Time Cell Analysis DP device, selectivity index (SI), apoptotic index (AI) based on a DAPI application and time-related activities of caspase 3,7 and 9 with a spectrofluorometer were inspected. The expressions of apoptosis/autophagy/entosis/necroptosis/anoikis-related genes were researched with qRT-PCR. RESULTS: It was determined that C. baytopiorum extract had displayed a high selectivity [(SI)=4], increased AI (p<0.01) and activation of caspases 3,7 and 9 (p<0.05). It was observed that the mRNA expressions of Atg12, Atg16, Atg5, Atg7, bad, bak, bax, bcl-xL, Beclin1, caspase3, FLIP, Puma, LC3, mcl-1, Bit1, Rho, RIP1, ROCK and TRAF2 genes in C-4 I cells to which the plant extract was applied had increased significantly in comparison with the control group (FC≥1.5). A lowering was detected in the mRNA levels of IAP, SRC kinase and TNF. CONCLUSION: Consequently, it was revealed that the plant extract used had increased the gene expressions in the autophagic cell death pathway in C-4 I cells along with apoptosis and thus, it could be a promising candidate for cervix carcinoma treatment.

Screening for antitumor activity of various plant extracts on HeLa and C 4-I cell lines.

PURPOSE: Cancer is a long process that leads the organism to death and is associated with the normal cells acquiring the ability to divide permanently. Nowadays, the use of natural products in cancer therapy has a great importance. In addition, working with plants that are endemic to Turkey and determining the biological activities of these plant extracts, is extremely important due to the potential for new drug development. There is no comparative study available in the literature on the antitumor effects of Colchicum sanguicolle, a new found species of the genus Colchicum in Turkey, Crateagus microphylla, of the genus Crateagus and Centaurea antiochia of the genus Centaurea. In this study, we tried to demonstrate the antitumor effect of these plant extracts on HeLa and C 4-1 cells. METHODS: Five different doses (0.001, 0.01, 0.05, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml) of the three plant types were prepared and applied for 24, 48 and 72 hrs on the cervical cancer derived cell lines. Subsequently, the growth rate was evaluated with the mitochondrial dehydrogenase enzyme method. RESULTS: Colchicum sanguicolle extracts showed the most effective antitumor activity. For the Colchicum sanguicolle extract, the IC50 dose for HeLa cells was 0.01 mg/ml at 48 hrs, while for the C-4 I cells it was 0.001 mg/ml at 48 hrs. These results showed that C-4 I cells were more sensitive to the Colchicum sanguicolle extracts. Conclus?on: The results of from this study regarding the antitumor effect of plant extracts of endemic varieties of Turkey may have an important place in design and development of anticancer drugs and would make contributions to other studies to be conducted in this area.