Combinational Anti-tumor Effects of Chemicals from Paeonia lutea Leaf Extract in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells.

Abstract

AIM:

We identified chemical components that exhibited antitumor activity against oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells and examined their effective concentrations and additive and/or synergistic effects in combinational usage on the proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle of OSCC cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Using high-performance liquid chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry, we identified the main chemical components of the methanol extracts from Paeonia lutea. We investigated the pharmaceutical effects of those components on the proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle of an OSCC cell line, SAS, using the tetrazolium salt 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and caspase assays, as well as flow cytometry cell cycle analysis. We also examined the effects of those components on the mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction pathway by western blotting. Finally, the effects on normal human epidermal keratinocyte cells were also examined in similar experiments.

RESULTS:

Three chemicals have been identified in P. lutea leaves using high performance liquid chromatography: gallic acid methyl ester (GAME), pentagalloyl glucose (PGG) and paeoniflorin (PF). Both GAME and PGG significantly suppressed cell proliferation, and their combined effects were synergistic, while the effect of PF was minimal. However, those chemicals did not induce apoptosis. Cell cycle and western blotting analysis showed that the suppressive effects on cell proliferation resulted from G2 arrest and the suppression of phosphorylation of Akt/PKB. No effect was identified on normal human epidermal keratinocyte cells.

CONCLUSION:

These results indicate that GAME and PGG are the main chemical components of P. lutea leaves that have potential anti-cancer therapeutic effects.

• Authors: Shinsuke Nakamura, Yoshiki Mukudai, Junichiro Chikuda, Meilin Zhang, Hideyuki Shigemori, Kazunaga Yazawa, Seiji Kondo, Toshikazu Shimane, Tatsuo Shirota
• Journal: Anticancer research (Anticancer Res) Vol. 41 Issue 12 Pg. 6077-6086 (Dec 2021) ISSN: 1791-7530 [Electronic] Greece
• PMID: 34848462 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2021 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Plant Extracts

Topics

• Carcinoma, Squamous Cell (drug therapy)
• Humans
• Mouth Neoplasms (drug therapy)
• Paeonia (chemistry)
• Plant Extracts (chemistry)
• Plant Leaves (chemistry)