Exploring the antimitotic, thrombolytic, and cytotoxic properties of lasiosiphon glaucus or gnidia glauca (fresen.) gilg leaf alkaloid extract: insights from experimental and in silico investigations.

Plant alkaloids are nitrogen containing secondary metabolites that have wide range of biological properties including anticancer activity. 'Lasiosiphon glaucus', or 'Gnidia glauca (Fresen.) Gilg,' known for its biological properties, requires exploration to evaluate cytotoxic and anticancer effects. The present study is aimed to evaluate L. glaucus leaf alkaloid extract (LgLAE) for antimitotic, thrombolytic, and cytotoxic properties. LgLAE demonstrated comparable antimitotic efficacy to methotrexate in Allium cepa root meristematic cells. Thrombolytic evaluation showed a maximum observed clot lysis of 41.39 ± 0.21% at 2 mg/100 µL. Cytotoxicity assay shows greater inhibition of MCF-7 (144.51 µg/mL) cancer cell proliferation than MCF-10A cells (409.86 µg/mL), indicating potential cancer-specific effects. Computational analysis revealed strong binding affinities between L. glaucus alkaloids (Ergocristine, Solasodine, Solanocapsine, Delphinine, and Harmidine) and relevant receptors. These findings highlight L. glaucus contains valuable natural compounds with pharmacological effects, particularly in antimitotic, thrombolytic, and cytotoxic effects, it essential for further investigation for cancer treatment.

Multifaceted Anticancer Potential of Gnidia glauca (Fresen.) Gilg Leaf Alkaloids: Impact on Multiple Cellular Targets.

Gnidia glauca (Fresen.) Gilg has demonstrated significant anticancer potential through multiple mechanisms, including apoptosis induction, as shown by the TUNEL assay against MCF-7 cells, modulation of tubulin polymerization, preservation of mitochondrial function indicated by the JC-1 assay, and inhibition of DNA polymerase α and ß activities. Rationale for the present study is to investigate the potential anticancer properties of G. glauca leaf alkaloid extract. Fresh and healthy G. glauca leaves were cleaned, shade-dried, and the powder was defatted, extracted with 10% acetic acid in ethanol, and subjected for alkaloid extraction. The partially purified G. glauca leaf alkaloid extract was evaluated for its effects on tubulin polymerization, DNA polymerase activity, mitochondrial membrane potential, and apoptosis studies using human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells by flow cytometry. The extract was found to affect microtubule assembly in a concentration-dependent manner (15.125-250 µg/mL), indicating presence of alkaloids that function as spindle poison agents. Leaf alkaloid extract of G. glauca was also found to affect the mitochondrial membrane potential with IC50 value 144.51 µg/mL, and inhibited DNA polymerase α and ß activities dose dependently, thus potentially interfering with DNA replication and repair processes. Leaf alkaloid extract also showed the potential to induce DNA damage of 53.6%, albeit somewhat less than the standard drug camptothecin (64.94%) as confirmed by the TUNEL assay. Additionally, the GgLAE (IC50 144.51 µg/mL) showed significant inhibition of MCF-7 cells proliferation after 24 h, revealing phase arrests in sub G0/G1, S, and G2/M. These findings suggest that G. glauca leaf alkaloid extract contains alkaloids that possess anticancer properties with multiple targets, making the plant a natural source for a promising phytochemical drug candidates for further evaluation in pre-clinical and clinical studies. Further investigations are warranted to determine the efficacy, safety, identification and characterization of the alkaloids, and evaluate and determine their potential applications in cancer therapy.