2. Academic Validation
  3. The contribution of plukenetione A to the anti-tumoral activity of Cuban propolis

The contribution of plukenetione A to the anti-tumoral activity of Cuban propolis

  • Bioorg Med Chem. 2008 Nov 15;16(22):9635-43. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2008.10.019.
David Díaz-Carballo 1,  Sascha Malak,  Walter Bardenheuer,  Michael Freistuehler,  H Peter Reusch
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Universitaetsstr. 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany. david.diaz-carballo@rub.de
PMID: 18951805 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2008.10.019
Abstract

Increasing efforts are directed toward finding applications for Natural Products and their derivatives in the treatment of human diseases. Among such products, propolis, a resinous substance produced by honey bees from various plant sources, has been found to be a promising source of potential therapeutics. In the present work, we aimed at studying the perspective of Cuban propolis as a source of possible anti-cancer agents. We found an anti-metastatic effect in mice and considerable cytotoxicity without cross-resistance in both wild-type and chemoresistant human tumor cell lines. Plukenetione A--identified for the first time in Cuban propolis--induced G0/G1 arrest and DNA fragmentation in colon carcinoma cells. Furthermore, the activities of both Topoisomerase I and DNA Polymerase were inhibited, while the expression of Topoisomerase II-beta, EGF receptor, and multidrug resistance-related protein genes was found repressed. We assume that plukenetione A contributes to the anti-tumoral effect of Cuban propolis mainly by targeting Topoisomerase I as well as DNA Polymerase.

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