Natural products play a pivotal role in the treatment of
cancer; identification of compounds such as
taxanes and the
vinca alkaloids were seminal landmarks in natural product drug discovery.
Jerantinine A, a novel Aspidosperma
alkaloid isolated from plant species Tabernaemontana corymbosa, was previously reported to possess cytotoxic activity against
vincristine-resistant
nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and is therefore an ideal candidate for biological investigation. Furthermore, Tabernaemontana corymbosa, has been placed in the endangered list of threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature thus making it a priority to elucidate the biological activity of this
alkaloid. Herein, we report detailed biological evaluation of
jerantinine A on various human-derived
carcinoma cell lines. Our preliminary screens showed that significant inhibition of cell growth and colony formation accompanied time- and dose-dependent induction of apoptosis in human
cancer cell lines
after treatment with
jerantinine A. Dose-dependent accumulations of cleaved PARP and
caspase 3 further confirmed apoptosis. Profound G2/M cell cycle arrest was observed 24 h
after treatment in all cell lines. Characteristics of mitotic arrest including inhibition of
tubulin polymerisation, microtubule disruption,
aneuploidy, and
cyclin B1 down-regulation were clearly observed. The potent anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic, and
tubulin-destabilising activities of
jerantinine A warrant further development of this molecule as a potential chemotherapeutic agent.