Armaghane Danesh Bimonthly Journal (Mar 2021)

The Effect of Citrullus colocynthis on the Induction of Casp3 and Casp8 Gene Expression on Human Glioblastoma U87 Cell Line

  • N Abdi,
  • T Najin,
  • AH Anganji

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 1
pp. 1 – 17

Abstract

Read online

Background & aim: The use of compounds extracted from natural plants due to less side effects can be a good alternative to chemical drugs in the treatment of deadly diseases such as cancer. In this study, the anticancer effect of Abu Jahl watermelon fruit extract on human glioblastoma cancer cells of U87 cell line was investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine and evaluate the effect of Citrullus colocynthis fruit extract on the expression of caspase 3 and caspase 8 genes in human glioblastoma cancer cell line.Using in vitro MTT assay and Real-time PCR, the cytotoxicity and cell inhibition mechanism of using Citrullus colocynthis on human glioblastoma U87 cell line was investigated. Methods: In this experimental study conducted in 2019 in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences of Islamic Azad University, the fruit extract of the plant was prepared by extraction with 70% ethanol and to evaluate the toxicity of 104 cells of U87 cells were treated with different concentrations of this extract. These cells were treated as independent groups with specific concentrations of the extract at 24, 48 and 72 hours and were evaluated by MTT method. The determined IC50 concentration at 24 hours was used as the basal concentration for cell treatment to evaluate the amount of gene expression by Real-Time PCR. The collected data were analyzed using Kolmogorf-Smirnov statistical tests, one-way analysis of variance and Tukey. Results: The results obtained from MTT test showed that the growth of treated cells at concentrations higher than 1000 μg / ml of fruit extract was completely inhibited and the IC50 value calculated for 24, 48 and 72 hours of treatment was 1337.42, respectively. (P> 0.0001), 892.99 (p = 0.0012) and 387.49 (p> 0.0001) μg / ml of extract. Using IC50 value of Abu Jahl watermelon fruit extract for 24 hours increases the expression of caspase 3 and 8 gene by 3.052 (p = 0.0013) and 2.099 (p = 0.065), respectively. . Conclusion: The data revealed from this work determined that Citrullus colocynthis extract has concentration and time dependent toxicity effects on U87 cell line and the inhibition mechanism of this plant may be due to the induced Casp3 and Casp8 gene expression which leads to extrinsic apoptosis pathway. So, Citrullus colocynthis extract can be used to inhibit glioblastoma cells growth and may treat brain tumor.

Keywords