Abstract:
Extensive research has revealed that Amaryllidaceae species exhibit numerous therapeutic properties through several mechanisms. Among the various Amaryllidaceae species, Sternbergia clusiana has been recently given a great amount of attention in the medicinal field due to its richness in small chemical molecules, namely Amaryllidaceae alkaloids; these have been reported to possess an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory role, in addition to a prominent anti-cancer effect on different types of cancer cell lines. The current study investigates the selective anti-proliferative effect of Sternbergia clusiana bulb ethanolic extract (SbBEE) on breast cancer cells cultured in vitro (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) and reveals the underlying mechanism responsible for the induction of cell death. MDA-MB-231 cells treated with SbBEE exhibited morphological and biochemical hallmarks of apoptosis that were detected through DNA fragmentation, the hyper-expression of phosphatidylserine on the outer leaflet of cells membrane and the upregulation of proteins able to mediate cell death through apoptosis (c-PARP, Bax/ Bcl2). The prominent decrease in ROS levels upon treatment confirmed the antioxidant property of the extract being investigated, highlighting the promising effect of SbBEE in breast cancer treatment.
