Capillary electrophoretic study of the synergistic biological effects of alkaloids from Chelidonium majus L. in normal and cancer cells

Abstract

In this study, the synergistic biological action of five celandine alkaloids in normal and cancer cells was investigated by capillary electrophoresis with light-emitting diode-induced native fluorescence detection. The specific capacity of each alkaloid to penetrate into the cells was estimated by monitoring alkaloid concentration decreases in the cell medium during incubation with murine fibroblast NIH/3T3, mouse melanoma B16F10, and human breast cancer MCF7 cell lines. Mixtures of isoquinoline alkaloids containing protopine, chelidonine, sanguinarine, allocryptopine, and stylopine were applied to cell cultures for 20 and 40 min, and the content of alkaloids in the cell media was measured by capillary electrophoresis (CE). CE separation of isoquinoline alkaloids was performed in 30 mM phosphate buffer (pH 2.5). As these alkaloids have native fluorescence, they were directly detected using the commercially available UV light-emitting diode without troublesome fluorescent derivatization. The results showed a differential ability of celandine alkaloids to penetrate into the normal and cancer cell interior, which was inversely proportional to their cytotoxic activity. While the most effective transport of celandine alkaloids from the cell medium to the cell interior was observed for normal murine fibroblast NIH/3T3 cells (about 55% of total content), cytotoxicity tests demonstrated selective and profound apoptotic effects of a five-alkaloid combination in the mouse melanoma B16F10 cell line.

Sanguinaria canadensis: Traditional Medicine, Phytochemical Composition, Biological Activities and Current Uses

“…It showed preferential melanoma cytotoxicity with 45% cell viability after 40 min compared to 75% normal cell viability. Unfortunately, a comparison with individual alkaloid cytotoxicity to determine the presence of alkaloid mixture synergy was not reported [ 287 ]. Although normal cells experienced a nearly two-fold greater alkaloid penetration, they experienced less cytotoxic effect due to preferential allocryptopine and stylopine permeability.…”

Estonian folk traditional experiences on natural anticancer remedies: From past to the future

“…This plant extract and its derivatives have potential of being successfully used as a therapeutic agent against leukemia and melanoma as well as lung, liver, pancreas, pelvic, cervical, prostate, and breast cancers (Aljuraisy et al, 2012;Kulp & Bragina, 2013;Nadova et al, 2008;Paul et al, 2012Paul et al, , 2013. Chelidonium majus is rich in various types of isoquinoline alkaloids, including chelidonine that has shown promising antitumor potential DOI: 10.3109/13880209.2013.871641 with the ability to overcome multidrug resistance of different cancer cell lines and might be, therefore, profitable in medical oncology.…”

Phytochemical and biological research of Chelidonieae pharmaceutical resources

“…Capillary electrophoretic study of the synergistic biological effects of alkaloids from C. majus showed a differential ability of celandine alkaloids to penetrate into the normal and cancer cell interior (Kulp and Bragina, 2013), which was inversely proportional to their cytotoxic activity. While the most effective transport of celandine alkaloids from the cell medium to the cell interior was observed for normal murine fibroblast NIH/3T3 cells (about 55% of total content), cytotoxicity tests demonstrated selective and profound apoptotic effects of a five-alkaloid combination in the mouse melanoma B16F10 cell line.…”