A preliminary study of the anti-proliferative effect of Aronia Melanocarpa extract on human colon cancer cells and its relation with human TERT protein

Abstract

Aim: Aronia melanocarpa is a fruit exhibiting antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, and anticarcinogenic properties. Telomerase is a critical factor in the development of colon cancer, and it is being looked at as a target for cancer treatments. In the present study, we aimed to examine the potential effect of Aronia melanocarpa extract on cell viability and protein concentration of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in the human colon cancer cell line (HT-29) and the non-tumorigenic human umbilical vein endothelial cell line (HUVEC).

Methods: Cell lines were treated with different concentrations of Aronia extract (50-750 μg/ml) for 48 h. The cytotoxic activity of Aronia extract was determined using the MTT assay. hTERT protein concentration (pg/ml) was measured using a sandwich ELISA.

Results: The MTT assay test showed that Aronia extract induces 50% cell death (IC₅₀) at a concentration of 186 μg/mL at 48 h post-treatment in the HT-29 cell line. Cytotoxicity results showed a dose-dependent decrease in cell viability in the HT-29 cell line. However, increasing Aronia extract concentrations showed no similar effect on the HUVEC cell line. The hTERT protein concentration in HT-29 cells was 1.9-fold higher than that of HUVEC cells. Increasing concentrations of Aronia extract was linked with a significant decrease in hTERT protein level in HT-29 cells, whereas the hTERT protein concentration in HUVEC cells did not change significantly.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that A. melanocarpa may be a potential therapeutic agent for anticarcinogenic activity. Also, the anti-proliferative effects of Aronia extract may be attributed, at least partly, to the decreased hTERT protein level of HT-29 cells.