Mechanistic Studies of in Vitroanti-Proliferative Potential of Arisaena Intermedium Lectin

Aberrant glycosylation has been recognized as hallmark of cancer. Exploiting differences in glycosylation between malignant and healthy tissues offers excellent opportunities to identify sensitive and specific cancer biomarkers. Plant lectins have demonstrated the ability to specifically agglutinate malignant transformed cells. Lectins are sugar binding proteins or glycoprotein of non-immune origin which agglutinate cells or precipitate glycol-conjugates. Some lectins shown to the antiproliferative effect on cancer cells. A wide scope of this application of lectins is that it can be used for diagnosis as well as therapeutics of cancer. The objective of the present study was to purify a lectin from tubers of Arisaema intermedium and evaluate in vitro anti-proliferative potential towards HCT-15, a human colon cancer cell line. The present study was conceived as an offshoot to the ongoing work on lectins in our laboratory. The already reported Arisaema intermedium (AIL) lectin was purified on asialofetuin linked amino-activated silica bead matrix. The purity of the affinity purified lectin was ascertained by SDS-PAGE, pH-8.3. The lectin activity was assessed by hemagglutination and protein concentration was determined by Lowry’s method. The cytotoxicity of AIL towards HCT-15 was evaluated by MTT assay. The mechanism of anti-proliferative effect was assessed by evaluation of cell morphology, trypan blue exclusion assay, DNA fragmentation and nucleic acid content determination. Key-wordsAraceae, Arisaema, Asialofetuin, Antiproliferative effect, Apoptosis, Cytotoxicity Lectins, Mechanistic -------------------------------------------------IJLSSR----------------------------------------------INTRODUCTION Colon cancer refers to cancerous growth in colon, rectum or caecum. It is most common malignancy worldwide and causes large scale morbidity and mortality [1]. Colon cancer is fourth most common cancer globally with 639,000 deaths reported annually [2]. It occurs most frequently in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India and Western Europe [3-5]. There are several risk factors related to colon cancer include presence of adenomatous polyps, previous history of ovary, uterus or breast cancer, contraction of specific strains of human papilloma viral infection, Streptococcus bovis and inflammatory bowel disease particularly ulcerative colitis. Access this article online Quick Response Code: Website: