Abstract
Verbesina encelioides is known to possess antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, and antiviral activities. However, anticancer activity of V. encelioides plant on human colon cancer has not been explored so far. Herein, anticancer potential of ethanolic extract (VE) and aqueous extract (VA) of V. encelioides against human colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) was evaluated. Cell viability assays, morphological analysis, oxidative stress markers (lipid peroxidation (LPO) and glutathione (GSH)), reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and apoptotic marker genes were studied. VE exhibited a higher cytotoxic effect related to VA at tested concentrations as observed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2-5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT), neutral red uptake (NRU) assays, and morphological analysis. The obtained results showed that VE induced LPO level, GSH depletion, ROS production, and depletion of the mitochondrial membrane potential. A mechanistic study has confirmed that VE induces apoptosis in HCT-116 cells by upregulating pro-apoptotic genes (p53, caspase-3 and - 9, and Bax) expression and downregulating Bcl-2 (antiapoptotic gene). Overall, these results clearly exhibited that VE has anticancer potential against HCT-116 cells through oxidative stress, ROS generation, and mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. The findings of this study suggest that V. encelioides could be a source for the development of new anticancer agents.