Genista sessilifolia DC. and Genista tinctoria L. inhibit UV light and nitric oxide-induced DNA damage and human melanoma cell growth

Can Isoflavone-Rich Legume Plants Be Useful in the Chemoprevention of Hormone-Dependent Cancers?-A Systematic Review

Plants from the Fabaceae family are widely distributed around the world, especially in Europe, Asia and North America. They are a rich source of isoflavones, compounds with estrogen-like activity, which are suspected of having a chemopreventive effect against hormone-dependent cancers. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review aimed at assessing the impact of Fabaceae plant extracts on hormone-dependent cancer cells and the content of active compounds in plant raw materials. We analyzed the results of 63 articles from in vitro and in vivo studies describing the effect of plant extracts containing isoflavones on cancer cells, along with their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential. In the process, we determined the research limitations and future research directions. The collected results indicate the plant species with potentially high contents of phytoestrogens and anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. They point to the potential use of plants in the diet as a source of compounds offering cancer prevention.

Anti-cancer mechanisms of natural isoflavones against melanoma

The incidence of skin-related neoplasms has generally increased in recent years. Melanoma arises from malignant mutations in melanocytes in the basal layer of the epidermis and is a fatal skin cancer that seriously threatens human health. Isoflavones are polyphenolic compounds widely present in legumes and have drawn scientists' attention, because they have good efficacy against a variety of cancers, including melanoma, without significant toxic side effects and resistance. In this review article, we summarize the research progress of isoflavones in melanoma, including anti-melanoma roles and mechanisms of isoflavones via inhibition of tyrosinase activity, melanogenesis, melanoma cell growth, invasion of melanoma cells, and induction of apoptosis in melanoma cells. This information is important for the prevention, clinical treatment, and prognosis and survival of melanoma.

Identification of Anti-Proliferative Compounds from Genista monspessulana Seeds through Covariate-Based Integration of Chemical Fingerprints and Bioactivity Datasets

Genista monspessulana (L.) L.A.S. Johnson (Fabaceae) is a Mediterranean plant introduced to South America and other regions for ornamental purposes. However, it is considered an invasive shrub due to its reproductive vigor in many areas. Unlike other Genista plants, G. monspessulana has few studies disclosing its biologically active components, particularly cytotoxic agents against cancer cells. Thus, as part of our research on anti-proliferative bioactives, a set of ethanolic seed extracts from ten accessions of G. monspessulana, collected in the Bogotá plateau, were evaluated against four cell lines: PC-3 (prostate adenocarcinoma), SiHa (cervical carcinoma), A549 (lung carcinoma), and L929 (normal mouse fibroblasts). Extracts were also analyzed through liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC/MS) to record chemical fingerprints and determine the composition and metabolite variability between accessions. Using multiple covariate statistics, chemical and bioactivity datasets were integrated to recognize patterns and identify bioactive compounds among studied extracts. G. monspessulana seed-derived extracts exhibited dose-dependent antiproliferative activity on PC-3 and SiHa cell lines (>500 µg/mL < IC50 < 26.3 µg/mL). Seven compounds (1−7) were inferred as the compounds most likely responsible for the observed anti-proliferative activity and subsequently isolated and identified by spectroscopic techniques. A tricyclic quinolizidine (1) and a pyranoisoflavone (2) were found to be the most active compounds, exhibiting selectivity against PC-3 cell lines (IC50 < 18.6 µM). These compounds were used as precursors to obtain a quinolizidine-pyranoisoflavone adduct via Betti reaction, improving the activity against PC-3 and comparable to curcumin as the positive control. Results indicated that this composition−activity associative approach is advantageous to finding those bioactive principles efficiently within active extracts. This correlative association can be employed in further studies focused on the targeted isolation of anti-proliferative compounds from Genista plants and accessions.

The genus Genista L.: A rich source of bioactive flavonoids

The genus Genista L. (family Fabaceae, subfamily Papilionoideae), with its cosmopolitan distribution, has attracted the human interest since ancient times, as it is used in folk medicine and mainly in the Mediterranean area for the treatment of respiratory diseases, rheumatic disorders, diabetes and ulcer, while it is also well known for its yellow pigment. The chemical composition of the Genista species revealed the presence of more than 108 flavonoids. Isoflavones, belonging to the group of phytoestrogens, are important secondary metabolites of the genus. The extracts of the Genista species may act as important source of bioactive phytochemicals for the treatment of many human ailments, mainly inflammation and pain, estrogen related pathology, hyperglycaemia, cancer and microbial infections. Therefore, the present review summarizes and discusses the flavonoid derivatives from the genus Genista, together with their structural features and pharmacological properties, aiming to highlight the recent advances in current knowledge on Genista species as a source of bioactive flavonoids.

Use of Ultrasonication Technology for the Increased Production of Plant Secondary Metabolites

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) provide taste, color, odor, and resistance to plants, and they are also used to treat cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Synthesis of PSMs in plants is stimulated in response to different forms of external stress. Use of ultrasonication (US) to clean or decontaminate fruits and vegetables leads to physical stress that finally results in the accumulation of PSMs. US can stimulate accumulation of taxol, ginsenoside saponins, shikonin, and resveratrol, e.g., up to 319-fold increase of resveratrol synthesis has been observed in grape due to US. US also increases carotenoids, total phenolics, and isoflavonoids accumulation. Furthermore, US shows synergistic effects in PSMs synthesis-when combined with ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, jasmonic acid (JA) or salicylic acid (SA). It has been observed that US stimulates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which then upregulates expression of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), resulting in the synthesis of PSMs. In this review, we summarize the effects of US, as a physical stress, to maximize the accumulation of PSMs in crop produce and in cell cultures.

Protective Activity of Total Polyphenols from Genista quadriflora Munby and Teucrium polium geyrii Maire in Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats

Oxidative stress is a major cause of drug-induced hepatic diseases and several studies have demonstrated that diet supplementation with plants rich in antioxidant compounds provides a variety of health benefits in these circumstances. Genista quadriflora Munby (Gq) and Teucrium polium geyrii Maire (Tp) are known to possess antioxidant and numerous biological properties and these endemic plants are often used for dietary or medicinal applications. Herein, we evaluated the beneficial effect of rich-polyphenol fractions of Gq and Tp to prevent Acetaminophen-induced liver injury and investigated the mechanisms involved in this protective action. Rats were orally administered polyphenolic extracts from Gq or Tp (300 mg/kg) or N-acetylcysteine (NAC: 200 mg/kg) once daily for ten days prior to the single oral administration of Acetaminophen (APAP: 1 g/kg). The results show that preventive administration of polyphenolic extracts from Gq or Tp exerts a hepatoprotective influence during APAP treatment by improving transaminases leakage and liver histology and stimulating antioxidant defenses. Besides, suppression of liver CYP2E1, GSTpi and TNF-α mRNA levels, with enhancement of mitochondrial bioenergetics may contribute to the observed hepatoprotection induced by Gq and Tp extracts. The effect of Tp extract is significantly higher (1.5–2 fold) than that of Gq extract and NAC regarding the enhancement of mitochondrial functionality. Overall, this study brings the first evidence that pretreatment with these natural extracts display in vivo protective activity against APAP hepatotoxicity through improving mitochondrial bioenergetics, oxidant status, phase I and II enzymes expression and inflammatory processes probably by virtue of their high total polyphenols content.

Effect of Three Centaurea Species Collected from Central Anatolia Region of Turkey on Human Melanoma Cells

Centaurea is the largest genus within the Asteraceae family. Many members of this genus are used in traditional folk medicine, such as Centaurea pulchella used to treat skin problems such as to resolve the abscess. Although biological activities of many Centaurea species have been investigated in different countries and Turkey, cytotoxic effect of C. patula, C. pulchella and C. tchihatcheffii has not been studied yet. Melanoma is one of the most invasive and deadly forms of skin cancer. Therefore, in an ongoing effort to identify new natural anticancer products for the treatment and/or prevention of melanoma cancer, the present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of these Centaurea species, collected from Central Anatolia region of Turkey on cell growth and death in human melanoma cell line, A375. The results revealed that all extracts were able to inhibit, after 48 h of treatment, the growth of cancer cells, that could be related to an overall action of the phenolic compounds present. In fact, C. pulchella, with the highest level of phenolics, showed a major activity followed by C. patula and C. tchihatcheffii. Our data also demonstrate that these natural products induce apoptotic cell death. In conclusion, the study of plant extracts for their cytotoxic and apoptotic properties has shown that medicinal herbs from Centaurea species might have also importance in the prevention and treatment of melanoma.

Effect of ultrasound on the isoflavonoid production in Genista tinctoria L. suspension cultures

Background:

Application of ultrasound (US) to biotechnology is relatively new but several processes that take place in the presence of cells or enzymes are activated by ultrasonic waves. Genista tinctoria L. (Fabaceae) is rich on various kind of flavonoids, including isoflavones with valuable estrogenic activity.

Objective:

This study verified use of low-energy US elicitor to enhance secondary metabolite production in plant cell cultures.

Materials and Methods:

Suspension cultures of G. tinctoria cells was exposed to low-power US (with fixed frequency 35 kHz and power level 0.1 mW/cm³) for period 1-5 min.

Results:

The US exposure significantly stimulated genistin content (0.8 mg/g DW) after 3 min of US treatment (sampled after 72 h). The highest daidzein level (1.4 mg/g DW) was reached after US irradiation for 5 min and 168 h sampling.

Conclusion:

The achieved results suggest that US can act as a potent abiotic elicitor to induce the defense responses of plant cells and to stimulate secondary metabolite production in plant cell cultures.

Rapid identification of antioxidant compounds of Genista saharae Coss. & Dur. by combination of DPPH scavenging assay and HPTLC-MS

Genista species are sources of antioxidant phenolic compounds such as O- and C-glycosylflavonoids and isoflavonoids. A combination of a DPPH scavenging assay with HPTLC-MS, a fast and efficient method for identification of bioactive compounds, has been applied for evaluation of the radical scavenging activity of metabolites from Genista saharae Coss. & Dur. Different organs collected at various periods have been compared. Identification of antioxidant compounds was obtained by elution of the major DPPH-inhibition zones. The resulting HPTLC-MS analysis under moderately polar conditions, coupled to the DPPH results led to the putative identification of two antioxidant isoflavone aglycones: 3',4',5,7-tetrahydroxyisoflavone (1) and ficuisoflavone (3), whereas polar migration conditions led to the identification of the glycosides 5-methoxy-4',7-trihydroxy-8-glucopyranosylisoflavone (4) and 4',5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyisoflavone-4'-O-β-d-gluco-pyranoside (5). Evaluation of percentage of inhibition of DPPH radical by the purified isoflavone 4 from the root extract showed that it affords a moderate contribution to the total radical scavenging activity of the extract.

Anticancer activity of essential oils: a review

Natural essential oil constituents play an important role in cancer prevention and treatment. Essential oil constituents from aromatic herbs and dietary plants include monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, oxygenated monoterpenes, oxygenated sesquiterpenes and phenolics among others. Various mechanisms such antioxidant, antimutagenic and antiproliferative, enhancement of immune function and surveillance, enzyme induction and enhancing detoxification, modulation of multidrug resistance and synergistic mechanism of volatile constituents are responsible for their chemopreventive properties. This review covers the most recent literature to summarize structural categories and molecular anticancer mechanisms of constituents from aromatic herbs and dietary plants.

Triterpene saponins of Genista ulicina Spach

From the n-BuOH extract of the aerial parts of Genista ulicina, six triterpene saponins, 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-olean-12-ene-3β,27,28,30-tetraol, 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-olean-12-ene-3β,27,28,29-tetraol, 3,29-di-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-olean-12-ene-3β,27,28,29-tetraol, 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-olean-12-ene-3β,28,29-triol-27-oic acid, 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-olean-12-ene-3β,27,28-triol-29-oic acid, and 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-14-H-27-nor-olean-12-ene-3β,28,29-triol, were isolated together with eight known triterpene saponins and six flavonoids. Their structures were established mainly by means of spectroscopic methods (1D and 2D-NMR as well as HR-ESI-MS). The n-BuOH extract, investigated for its antitumor growth inhibition of human colon cancer HT-29 cells, presented no significant activity (IC50>100 μg).

Genista sessilifolia DC. extracts induce apoptosis across a range of cancer cell lines

OBJECTIVES

Restorative properties of medicinal plants such as Genista sessilifolia DC. have often been suggested to occur, in epidemiological studies. However, full characterization of effective principles responsible for this action has never previously been performed. Here, we have characterized G. sessilifolia's anti-cancer effects and identified the chemical components involved in this anti-tumour action.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Cell cycle, apoptosis, necrosis, differentiation analyses, high-performance liquid chromatography, western blotting, RNA extraction, real-time PCR and primers have all been observed/used in the study.

RESULTS

We report that G. sessilifolia methanol extract has anti-cancer activity on solid and haematological cancer cells. G. sessilifolia extract's anti-proliferative action is closely bound to induction of apoptosis, whereas differentiation is only weakly modulated. Analysis of G. sessilifolia extract, by high-performance liquid chromatography, identifies fraction 18-22 as the pertinent component for induction of apoptosis, whereas fractions 11-13 and 27-30 both seem to contribute to differentiation. G. sessilifolia extract induces apoptosis mediated by caspase activation and p21, Rb, p53, Bcl2-associated agonist of cell death (BAD), tumour necrosis factor receptor super-family, member 10 (TRAIL) overexpression and death receptor 5 (DR5). Accordingly, fraction 18-22 inducing apoptosis was able to induce TRAIL.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that G. sessilifolia extract and its fraction 18-22 containing genistin and isoprunetin, were able to induce anti-cancer effects supporting the hypothesis of a pro-apoptotic intrinsic content of this natural medicinal plant.

The prospective role of plant products in radiotherapy of cancer: a current overview

Treatment of cancer often requires exposure to radiation, which has several limitations involving non-specific toxicity toward normal cells, reducing the efficacy of treatment. Efforts are going on to find chemical compounds which would effectively offer protection to the normal tissues after radiation exposure during radiotherapy of cancer. In this regard, plant-derived compounds might serve as “leads” to design ideal radioprotectors/radiosensitizers. This article reviews some of the recent findings on prospective medicinal plants, phytochemicals, and their analogs, based on both in vitro and in vivo tumor models especially focused with relevance to cancer radiotherapy. Also, pertinent discussion has been presented on the molecular mechanism of apoptotic death in relation to the oxidative stress in cancer cells induced by some of these plant samples and their active constituents.

Interconverting flavanone glucosides and other phenolic compounds in Lippia salviaefolia Cham. ethanol extracts

Four interconverting flavanone glycosides [(2R)- and (2S)-3',4',5,6-tetrahydroxyflavanone 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and (2R)- and (2S)-3',4',5,8-tetrahydroxyflavanone 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside], in addition to eight known flavonoids [naringenin, asebogenin, sakuranetin, 6-hydroxyluteolin 7-O-β-D-glucoside, (2R)- and (2S)-eriodictyol 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, aromadendrin and phloretin], three phenylpropanoid glycosides [forsythoside B, alyssonoside and verbascoside] and the epoxylignan lariciresinol 4'-O-β-D-glucopyranoside were isolated and identified in the EtOH extract of the aerial parts of Lippia salviaefolia Cham. The phytochemical study herein was guided by preliminary antioxidant tests, namely, β-carotene protection and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity. The crude extracts, their active fractions and the isolated compounds were assayed against intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and human embryonic kidney HEK-293 and human melanoma M14 cancer cell growth. Aromadendrin and phloretin were able to counteract elevation of ROS induced by the oxidant t-butylhydroperoxide (t-BOOH) in HEK-293 cells, whereas phloretin strongly protected HEK-293 cells from ROS damage at 1 μM. Additionally, phloretin exhibited a significant growth inhibitory effect at 20-40 μM in both HEK-293 and M14 cells and induced a concentration dependent apoptosis at 20 μM in M14 cells, suggesting a selective action towards malignant cells. Due to their equilibria, the four interconverting flavanone glycosides were studied using 1D and 2D NMR, HPLC-CD-PDA and HRMS analyses.

Quantification of genistein and daidzein in two endemic Genista species and their antioxidant activity

In the current research, the total and free genistein and daidzein contents were determined in two endemic Genista species (G. sandrasica and G. vuralii) by an HPLC method. The highest amount of total genistein and total daidzein was found in G. sandrasica, 0.582 % and 0.113 %, respectively, whereas only the free daidzein content of G. sandrasica was higher than that of G. vuralii. The antioxidant activity of the crude methanol and hydrolyzed extracts of these species was evaluated by three in vitro methods; namely DPPH free radical scavenging, ferrous ionchelating and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) tests at 0.25, 0.50, and 1.0 mg ml. The hydrolyzed extracts of both species displayed greater antioxidant activity than the crude methanol extracts in all tests. Total phenol and flavonoid contents in the extracts were determined via the Folin-Ciocalteau and AlCl3 reagents, respectively. G. vuralii was richer in terms of total phenol and flavonoid contents compared to G. sandrasica.

Antiproliferative and Cytotoxic Effects on Malignant Melanoma Cells of Essential Oils from the Aerial Parts of Genista sessilifolia and G. tinctoria

Genista species (family Leguminosae) show interesting biological properties. In this paper we describe the biological activity of the essential oils extracted from the aerial parts of G. sessilifolia DC. and G. tinctoria L. against M14 human melanoma cells, testing several biochemical parameters, such as cell vitality, cell membrane integrity and genomic DNA fragmentation. In addition, we report for the first time the study of the composition of the essential oil obtained from G. tinctoria. The most abundant components of the oil were carbonylic compounds such as ( E)-β-ionone (9.1%), dihydroactinidiolide (7.3%), nonanal (5.1%) and hexahydrofarnesylacetone (4.3%). The essential oils from aerial parts of both G. sessilifolia and G. tinctoria showed interesting potential anticancer activity, suggesting the presence of active compounds.