| Summary: | In vitro anti-proliferative activity of <i>Pinus palustris</i> extract and its purified abietic acid was assessed against different human cancer cell lines (HepG-2, MCF-7 and HCT-116) compared to normal WI-38 cell line. Abietic acid showed more promising IC<sub>50</sub> values against MCF-7 cells than pine extract (0.06 µg/mL and 0.11 µM, respectively), with insignificant cytotoxicity toward normal fibroblast WI-38 cells. Abietic acid triggered both G<sub>2</sub>/M cell arrest and subG<sub>0</sub>-G<sub>1</sub> subpopulation in MCF-7, compared to SubG<sub>0</sub>-G<sub>1</sub> subpopulation arrest only for the extract. It also induced overexpression of key apoptotic genes (<i>Fas, FasL, Casp3, Casp8, Cyt-C</i> and <i>Bax</i>) and downregulation of both proliferation (<i>VEGF, IGFR1, TGF-β</i>) and oncogenic (<i>C-myc</i> and <i>NF-κB</i>) genes. Additionally, abietic acid induced overexpression of cytochrome-C protein. Furthermore, it increased levels of total antioxidants to diminish carcinogenesis and chemotherapy resistance. <i>P. palustris</i> is a valuable source of active abietic acid, an antiproliferative agent to MCF-7 cells through induction of apoptosis with promising future anticancer agency in breast cancer therapy.
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