Crude Methanol Extract of Echinophora Platyloba Induces Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest at S-Phase in Human Breast Cancer Cells

The aim of the present study was to determine cytotoxic activity of crude methanolic extract of Echinophora platyloba on breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell line. The free radical scavenging effects of methanolic extract of E. platyloba were tested using DPPH method. Crude methanolic extract exhibited potential antioxidant activity with an IC(50) value of 234.28 ± 21.63 μg/mL when compared to the standard BHT with an IC(50) value of the 19.5 ± 0.8 μg/mL. In addition, the in-vitro cytotoxic activity of this extract was studied against MDA-MB-231 and MCF-10a cells by MTT assay for 12, 24 and 36 h. Our data showed 534.6 ± 7.2 μg/mL of extract following 24 h of incubation was the most cytotoxic dose against MDA-MB-231 cells in comparison with other doses. This extract could induce apoptosis and promote cell-cycle arrest at S-phase in MDA-MB-231 cells after 24 h of incubation, as compared to the control group (p < 0.001) and could significantly up-regulate the expression of bax and p27 genes at the level of 2.8 and 2.2 folds, respectively. While, a significant amount of down-regulation was observed for bcl-2 gene expression, which was observed to be 0.4 fold. The present results prove the anticancer capacity of crude methanolic extract of E. platyloba to inhibit limit cell proliferation, and inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.