In Vitro Anti-proliferative Activity and Mechanism of Action of Anemone nemorosa

Abstract

Anemone nemorosa is part of the Ranunculaceae genus Anemone (order Ranunculales) which comprises more than 150 species. Various parts of the plant have been used for the treatment of numerous medical conditions such as headaches, tertian agues, rheumatic gout, leprosy, lethargy, eye inflammation as well as malignant and corroding ulcers. The Anemone plants have been found to contain various medicinal compounds with anti-cancer, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-microbial activities. To date there has been no reported evidence of its use in the treatment of cancer. However, due to the reported abundance of saponins which usually exert anti-cancer activity via cell cycle arrest and the induction of apoptosis, we investigated the mode of cell death induced by an aqueous A. nemorosa extract by using HeLa cervical cancer cells. Cisplatin was used as a positive control. With a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 20.33 ± 2.480 µg/mL, treatment with A. nemorosa yielded a delay in the early mitosis phase of the cell cycle. Apoptosis was confirmed through fluorescent staining with annexin V-FITC. Apoptosis was more evident with A. nemorosa treatment compared to the positive control after 24 and 48 h. Tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester staining showed a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential at 24 and 48 h. The results obtained imply that A. nemorosa may have potential anti-proliferative properties.

Anti-Cancer Activity of a 5-Aminopyrazole Derivative Lead Compound (BC-7) and Potential Synergistic Cytotoxicity with Cisplatin against Human Cervical Cancer Cells

“…Cells were maintained in 10 cm culture dishes in complete DMEM low glucose (Vero, MRHF and MeWo), EMEM (HepG2), or RPMI 1640 (HeLa) supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS) (Biowest) and incubated at 37 °C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO 2 . Additional supplementation, in the form of MEM Non-Essential Amino Acids at 1X with the stock concentration (HyClone), was required for HepG2 cells [34]. Cells exceeding 80% confluency were never used for maintenance and seeding of 96-well plates.…”

“…The ImageXpress Micro XLS Widefield High-Content Analysis System (Molecular Devices ® , San Jose, CA, USA) together with the MetaXpress ® High-Content Image Acquisition and Analysis Software was used to acquire and analyse all images, for all experiments [34]. All assays were conducted in 96-well plates of which the area of one well was approximately 34.21 mm 2 .…”

Inflammatory Response to Regulated Cell Death in Gout and Its Functional Implications

“…Anemonoides nemorosa and Tecomella undulata are used in traditional medicines to treat gout. Studies showed that Aqueous extracts of A. nemorosa can induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis by regulating mitochondrial function ( 154 ). Tecomella undulata induces apoptosis in tumor cells by promoting Fas, Fas-associated death domain, caspase3/7/8, and DNA fragmentation ( 155 ).…”

Therapeutic Effects of Natural Products Isolated from Different Microorganisms in Treating Cervical Cancer: A Review

“…A group of researchers also studied the efficiency of juncusol isolated from Juncus inflexu by introducing them in the cells of HeLa, CaSki as well as SiHa cells and found that the compound exhibited the potential of inducing apoptosis and inhibiting cell proliferation [33]. By analysing the cell cycle it was also concluded that G2/M as well as sub G1 cell populations were increased when treated with juncusol [58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65]. Moreover, this compound when added to HeLa cells was able to increase the activity of caspase-3, -8, as well as -9 which further suggest that it can also induce apoptosis.…”