Pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects of corn silk extract on human colon cancer cell lines

Abstract

Abstract. Corn silk is an economically and nutritionally significant natural product as it represents a staple food for a large proportion of the world population. This study investigated the anticancer activity of corn silk extract in human colon cancer cells and human gastric cancer cells. Following treatment with corn silk extract, certain apoptosis-related events were observed, including inhibition of cell proliferation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), release of Ca 2+ and release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria into the cytosol. Our results revealed that corn silk extract inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells and increased the level of apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Western blot analysis revealed that corn silk extract upregulated the levels of Bax, cytochrome c, caspase-3 and caspase-9, but downregulated the levels of B-cell lymphoma 2. These results suggest that corn silk extract may induce apoptosis through the mitochondria-mediated pathway.

Rapid analysis and characterization of multiple constituents of corn silk aqueous extract using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

“…Owing to this, the component analysis is especially important for the comprehensive understanding of TCM. Corn silk, an important TCM comprising the dried yellowish stigma and silk of corn fruit, has been widely applied for disorders such as diabetes , cancer , obesity , hypertension , inflammation , fatigue , and others . Modern studies elucidated that corn silk consists of numerous constituents such as polysaccharides , flavonoids , diterpenoids , alkaloids , steroids , and more .…”

Corn silk decoction for blood lipid in patients with angina pectoris: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Then, we screened the titles and abstracts of studies for potential trials and only remained 16 studies after removing obviously unrelated studies. Next, we removed the reviews (Hasanudin, Hashim, & Mustafa, 2012) and basic experimental researches (Bai, Hai, Xi, Liang, & Liu, 2010;Cha et al, 2016;Chaiittianan, Sutthanut, & Rattanathongkom, 2017;Farsi et al, 2008;Guo et al, 2017;Ho, Li, Lo, Chen, & Hsiang, 2017;Kim et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2017). We also removed RCTs without AP patients (George & Idu, 2015;Yang, 2011) or not reporting the blood lipid level (M. Chen, 2014).…”

Spectroscopic and modeling analyses of bimolecular structure of corn silk

“…Corn silk bioactivities are widely reported in the literature, including antioxidant activities [9], anti-proliferative effects on human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and lipopolysaccharideinduced cell adhesion [10], anti-diabetic activity on hyperglycemia rats [11], diuretic activity [12], anticoagulant activity [13] antifungal [14], anti-fatigue [15] and weight loss activities [16]. Antibiotic activity of flavone [17], immune enhancement by no starch polysaccharides, and anti-proliferative effects on human cancer cell lines are also reported [18]. CS fascinating biological activities are attributed to its polysaccharides contents and are the bases underlying publishing several articles dealing with the biological activities of the corn silk powder and extracts.…”