Investigating Apoptotic Effects of Methanolic Extract of Dorema glabrum Seed on WEHI-164 Cells

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the apoptotic effects of the methanolic extract of Dorema glabrum seed on WEHI-164, cancerous cells in comparison with L929, normal cells and compared them with the cytotoxic effects of Taxol. So, MTT test and DNA fragmentation assay were performed on cultured and treated cells. Also electrophoresis which was followed by immunoblotting was done to survey the production of Caspase-3 and Bcl 2 proteins, and to inquire into their relative genes expression, RT-PCR was used. According to our findings, the methanolic extract of Dorema glabrum seed can alter cells morphology as they shrink and take a spherical shape and lose their attachment too. So, the plant extract inhibits cell growth albeit in a time- and dose-dependent manner and results in degradation of chromosomal DNA. Induction of apoptosis by the plant extract was proved by the reduction of pro-Caspase-3 and Bcl 2 proteins and increase in Caspase-3 gene expression and decrease in that of bcl 2 too. Our data well established the antiproliferative effect of methanolic extract of Dorema glabrum seed and clearly showed that the plant extract can induce apoptosis and not necrosis in vitro. These results demonstrated that Dorema glabrum seed might be a novel and attractive therapeutic candidate for tumor treatment.