Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Complex assessment of in vitro anti-melanoma action of medicinal plant Cotinus coggygria Scop

Georgi G Antov¹, Mariyana S Georgieva¹, Irina I Bo¹, Svetla J Todinova², Avgustina K Danailova², Milena T Nikolova³, Natalia A Krasteva², Zlatina I Gospodinova¹

¹Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria; ²Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria; ³Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.

For correspondence:- Zlatina Gospodinova Email: zlatina.go@abv.bg Tel:+35929792617

Accepted: 10 May 2024 Published: 29 May 2024

Citation: Antov GG, Georgieva MS, Bo II, Todinova SJ, Danailova AK, Nikolova MT, et al. Complex assessment of in vitro anti-melanoma action of medicinal plant Cotinus coggygria Scop. Trop J Pharm Res 2024; 23(5):815-824 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v23i5.3

© 2024 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To elucidate the anticancer mechanism and molecular targets of the aqueous fraction from Cotinus coggygria leaf extract in A375 malignant melanoma cells.

Methods: Aqueous ethanol extract from the leaves of C. coggygria was fractionated into the aqueous and chloroform fractions by solvent–solvent partition. A375 cells were treated with the aqueous fraction at various concentrations and incubated for 72 h. The effect of the aqueous fraction on programmed cell death by staining with Annexin V/Propidium iodide ias well as on cell viability and adhesion through labeling with fluorescein diacetate were determined under fluorescence microscopy. In addition, the clonogenicity assessment, comet assay evaluation of genotoxic properties, characterization of thermodynamic behavior of cells by differential scanning calorimetry, and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) on the expression of genes involved in processes of apoptosis and cell cycle control were determined.

Results: The number of viable adherent cells was reduced by 38.00 and 85.06 % at 20 and 80 µg/mL, respectively compared to untreated cells. In addition, a significant, dose-dependent reduction in the clonogenicity of melanoma cells was observed, culminating in an almost complete inhibition of cancer cells colony-forming ability at 40 and 60 µg/mL of the fraction. Treatment with the fraction increased comets of Classes 3 and 4 to 35 %, while comets of Class 5, which corresponds to the highest level of DNA fragmentation, increased to 2.25 %. Also, the gene damage index (GDI) was highest (1.2) at the concentration of 40 μg/mL. Furthermore, the expression levels of BAX, CASP8 and CDKN1A were upregulated and MYC expression decreased after treatment with the aqueous fraction.

Conclusion: Cotinus coggygria possesses significant in vitro anti-melanoma potential. Future studies will be focused on the in vivo assessment of its therapeutic qualities in experimental animals.

Keywords: Cotinus coggygria Scop, A375 melanoma cell line, Apoptosis, Colony formation inhibition, Genotoxic effects, Cell growth inhibition