Antiproliferative Activity of Phenylpropanoids Isolated from Lagotis brevituba Maxim

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antiproliferative effect of phenylpropanoids isolated from the n-BuOH-soluble fraction of an ethanolic extract of Lagotis brevituba Maxim. The phenylpropanoids were identified as echinacoside, lagotioside, glucopyranosyl(1-6)martynoside, plantamoside, and verbascoside. Three of the compounds, lagotioside, glucopyranosyl(1-6)martynoside, and plantamoside, were isolated from L. brevituba for the first time. The antiproliferative activity of the isolates was evaluated in human gastric carcinoma (MGC-803), human colorectal carcinoma (HCT116), human hepatocellar carcinoma (HepG2), and human lung cancer (HCT116) cells using an 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Plantamoside showed promising activity against MGC-803 cells, with a half maximal inhibitory concentration value of 37.09 μM. The mechanism of the pro-apoptosis effect of plantamoside was then evaluated in MGC-803 cells. Changes in cell morphology, including disorganization of the architecture of actin microfilaments and formation of apoptotic bodies, together with cell cycle arrest in G2/M phases, were observed after treatment of plantamoside. The antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects were associated with a decrease in the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax and reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, which was accompanied by the release of reactive oxygen species and Ca²⁺ into the cytoplasm. Taken together, the results indicated that plantamoside promotes apoptosis via a mitochondria-dependent mechanism. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.