Evaluation of antiproliferative activity, apoptotic induction and LC-HRMS/MS analyses of the VLC fractions of L. numidicum

Abstract

In this study, six vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) fractions (F1–F6) of the n-BuOH extract of L. numidicum Murb. (BELN) were examined for their anticancer capacity. The composition of secondary metabolites was analyzed by LC-HRMS/MS. The antiproliferative effect against PC3 and MDA-MB-231 lines was evaluated by MTT assay. Apoptosis of PC3 cells was detected by annexin V-FITC/PI staining using a flow cytometer. The results showed that only fractions 1 and 6 inhibited PC3 and MDA-MB 231 cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner and induced dose-dependent apoptosis of PC3 cells, evidenced by the accumulation of early and late apoptotic cells, and by the decrease in viable cells. LC-HRMS/MS profiling of fractions 1 and 6 revealed the presence of known compounds that may be responsible for the observed anticancer activity. F1 and F6 may be an excellent source of active phytochemicals for cancer treatment.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Antiproliferative activity
• Apoptosis
• LC-HRMS/MS
• L. numidicum Murb.
• VLC

Acknowledgments

The authors thank M. Pezet and the IAB photonic imaging and flow cytometry facility (Microcell), member of the Life Science Imaging-in vitro and labelled by the French National Research Infrastructure IBISA.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge DGRSDT-MESRS, Algeria and Laboratoire Radiopharmaceutiques Biocliniques (LRB), France for financial support.