Methanol extract of caesalpinia bonducella induces apoptosis via up- regulation of bax and activation of parp in ehrlich ascites tumor cells

Nature has endowed plants with the power to cure multitude of diseases. In case of cancer treatment, the search for natural agents with potential antitumor effect has been intensified with time. Here we are reporting analysis of methanol extract of Caesalpinia bonducella (MECB) for its anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effect on Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) model In-vivo. MECB at 200 mg/kg concentration was responsible for decrease in the total percent of viable EAT cells (51.6%) and ascites volume (65%) in treated mice. MECB increased the rate of apoptosis with more number of cells exhibiting characteristic features such as membrane blebbing, apoptotic body formation and fragmented DNA which was evident by Giemsa and Acridine orange/Ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining. Alongside, the mice survival time was increased upon MECB treatment. In addition, FACS data suggests that death of MECB treated EAT cells was due to apoptosis and not by necrosis. Furthermore the analysis for molecular mechanism revealed MECB decreased the level of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression while increasing pro-apoptotic Bax level. The immunoblot analysis confirmed the activation PARP (Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase), a substrate for executioner caspase-3, which brings about subsequent DNA fragmentation in apoptotic process. These results confirm the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic activity of MECB, which may further translated into therapeutic drug development to combat cancer