Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Pseuderanthemum palatiferum (Nees) Radlk extract induces apoptosis via reactive oxygen species-mediated mitochondria-dependent pathway in A549 human lung cancer cells

Udomlak Kongprasom¹, Wanida Sukketsiri¹, Pennapa Chonpathompikunlert², Morakot Sroyraya³, Somporn Sretrirutchai⁴, Supita Tanasawet⁵

¹Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University; ²Expert Centre of Innovative Health Food, Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, Pathumthani 12120; ³Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400; ⁴Immunology and Virology Unit, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112; ⁵Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand.

For correspondence:- Supita Tanasawet Email: supita.t@psu.ac.th Tel:+6674288135

Accepted: 6 January 2019 Published: 28 February 2019

Citation: Kongprasom U, Sukketsiri W, Chonpathompikunlert P, Sroyraya M, Sretrirutchai S, Tanasawet S. Pseuderanthemum palatiferum (Nees) Radlk extract induces apoptosis via reactive oxygen species-mediated mitochondria-dependent pathway in A549 human lung cancer cells. Trop J Pharm Res 2019; 18(2):287-294 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v18i2.10

© 2019 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the capacity of aqueous Pseuderanthemum paltiferum leaf extracts (PPA) to induce apoptosis in A549 human lung cancer cells and the possible mechanisms of action.

Methods: Human lung cancer A549 cells were cultured in the presence of PPA (0 - 1000 µg/mL). Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay while morphological alterations in the cells were observed by Hoechst 33342/PI double staining. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and subsequent changes of mitochondrial membrane potential were also investigated. Involvement of caspase-3 activation in the apoptotic pathway was determined.

Results: PPA inhibited the growth of A549 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Major phenotypic apoptotic cell death was evidenced in microscopic images. Furthermore, treatment of A549 cells with PPA resulted in a significant increase in the production of ROS accompanied by attenuation of mitochondrial membrane potential, thus inducing the activation of caspase-3 activity (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: PPA exerts anti-cancer activity by suppression of cell viability and induction of ROS-mediated mitochondrial dependent apoptosis in A549 cells, and may be a potential candidate for the development of a therapeutic agent for lung cancer.

Keywords: Pseuderanthemum palatiferum, Apoptosis, Reactive oxygen species, Mitochondria, Lung cancer