In vitro evaluation of the anti-melanoma effects (A375 cell line) of the gel and whole leaf extracts from selected aloe species

Pharmacological Potential of Three Berberine-Containing Plant Extracts Obtained from Berberis vulgaris L., Mahonia aquifolium (Pursh) Nutt., and Phellodendron amurense Rupr

Three berberine-containing plant extracts were investigated for their pharmacological properties. The stems and leaves of Berberis vulgaris, Mahonia aquifolium, and Phellodendron amurense were characterized through scanning electron microscopy. The plant extracts obtained from fresh stem barks were further analyzed through high-performance liquid chromatography, revealing berberine concentrations, among berbamine and palmatine. The plant extracts were further tested for their anticancer potential against 2D and 3D human skin melanoma (A375) and lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cell lines. The concentrations at which 50% of the cells are affected was determined by the viability assay and it was shown that B. vulgaris, the plant extract with the highest berberine concentration, is the most efficient inhibitor (0.4% extract concentration for the 2D model and 3.8% for the 3D model). The membrane integrity and nitrate/nitrite concentration assays were consistent with the viability results and showed effective anticancer potential. For further investigations, the B. vulgaris extract was used to obtain silver nanoparticles, which were characterized through transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The formed nanoparticles have a uniform size distribution and are suited for future investigations in the field of biomedical applications, together with the B. vulgaris plant extract.

Bioactive Analysis of Antibacterial Efficacy and Antioxidant Potential of Aloe barbadensis Miller Leaf Extracts and Exploration of Secondary Metabolites Using GC-MS Profiling

Aloe barbadensis Miller (ABM) is a traditional medicinal plant all over the world. Numerous studies were conducted to exhibit its medicinal properties and most of them were concentrated on its metabolites against human pathogens. The current research work evaluates the attributes of different polar-based extracts (ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, acetone, hexane, and petroleum ether) of dried Aloe barbadensis leaf (ABL) to investigate its phytochemical constituents, antioxidant potential (DPPH, ABTS), phenolic, tannin, flavonoid contents, identification of bioactive compounds, and functional groups by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) respectively, and comparing antibacterial efficacy against human pathogens, aquatic bacterial pathogens, and zoonotic bacteria associated with fish and human. The present results showed that the methanolic extract of ABL showed higher antioxidant activity (DPPH-59.73 ± 2.01%; ABTS-74.1 ± 1.29%), total phenolic (10.660 ± 1.242 mg GAE/g), tannin (7.158 ± 0.668 mg TAE/g), and flavonoid content (49.545 ± 1.928 µg QE/g) than that of other solvent extracts. Non-polar solvents hexane and petroleum ether exhibited lesser activity among the extracts. In the case of antibacterial activity, higher inhibition zone was recorded in methanol extract of ABL (25.00 ± 0.70 mm) against Aeromonas salmonicida. Variations in antibacterial activity were observed depending on solvents and extracts. In the current study, polar solvents revealed higher antibacterial activity when compared to the non-polar and the mid-polar solvents. Diverse crucial bioactive compounds were detected in GC-MS analysis. The vital compounds were hexadecanoic acid (30.69%) and 2-pentanone, 4-hydroxy-4-methyl (23.77%) which are responsible for higher antioxidant and antibacterial activity. Similar functional groups were identified in all the solvent extracts of ABL with slight variations in the FT-IR analysis. Polar-based solvent extraction influenced the elution of phytocompounds more than that of the other solvents used in this study. The obtained results suggested that the ABM could be an excellent source for antioxidant and antibacterial activities and can also serve as a potential source of effective bioactive compounds to combat human as well as aquatic pathogens.

Skin cancer: understanding the journey of transformation from conventional to advanced treatment approaches

Skin cancer is a global threat to the healthcare system and is estimated to incline tremendously in the next 20 years, if not diagnosed at an early stage. Even though it is curable at an early stage, novel drug identification, clinical success, and drug resistance is another major challenge. To bridge the gap and bring effective treatment, it is important to understand the etiology of skin carcinoma, the mechanism of cell proliferation, factors affecting cell growth, and the mechanism of drug resistance. The current article focusses on understanding the structural diversity of skin cancers, treatments available till date including phytocompounds, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, photothermal therapy, surgery, combination therapy, molecular targets associated with cancer growth and metastasis, and special emphasis on nanotechnology-based approaches for downregulating the deleterious disease. A detailed analysis with respect to types of nanoparticles and their scope in overcoming multidrug resistance as well as associated clinical trials has been discussed.

Endophytic Fungus of Achyrocline satureioides: Molecular Identification, Chemical Characterization, and Cytotoxic Evaluation of its Metabolites in Human Melanoma cell line

Endophytic fungi are important sources of anticancer compounds. An endophytic fungus was isolated from the medicinal plant Achyrocline satureioides, and molecularly identified as Biscogniauxia sp. (family Xylariaceae) based on partial nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer genomic region (GenBank Accession No. ON257911). The chemical characterization and cytotoxic properties of secondary metabolites produced by Biscogniauxia sp. were evaluated in a human melanoma cell line (A375). The fungus was grown in potato-dextrose liquid medium for 25 days, and the extracted compounds were subjected to solid-phase fractionation to obtain the purified F_DCM fraction, for which the metabolites were elucidated via ultra-performance chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer. In the present study, 17 secondary metabolites of Biscogniauxia sp., including nine polyketide derivatives, five terpenoids, and three isocoumarins, were putatively identified. This is the first study to report of the ability of Biscogniauxia sp. in the production of isocoumarin orthosporin; the terpenoids nigriterpene A and 10-xylariterpenoid; the polyketide derivatives daldinin C, 7'dechloro-5'-hydroxygriseofulvin, daldinone D, Sch-642305, curtachalasin A, cytochalasin E, epoxycytochalasins Z8, Z8 isomer, and Z17. Furthermore, this study has reported the biosynthesis of Sch-642305 by a Xylariaceae fungus for the first time. F_DCM significantly reduced the viability and proliferation of human melanoma cells at half-maximal inhibitory concentrations ​​of 10.34 and 6.89 µg/mL, respectively, and induced late apoptosis/necrosis and cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase after 72 h of treatment. Given its ability to produce unique metabolites with promising cytotoxic effects, Biscogniauxia sp. of A. satureioides may be a reservoir of compounds with important therapeutic applications.