Investigating the antiproliferative properties of Amaryllidaceae plant species and their bioactive compounds on brain tumour cell lines

Abstract Glioblastoma multiforme is considered the most aggressive type of brain tumour due to its highly invasive properties that make complete surgical resection almost impossible and treatment very challenging. The current treatment for glioblastoma involves surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Despite these treatment options, tumour recurrence and toxicity from the chemotherapeutic agents remain problematic, which calls for novel treatment approaches. In this study, we investigate the antiproliferative activities of three Amaryllidaceae plant species, Crossyne flava , Amaryllis belladonna , and Boophone haemanthiodes, as well as their isolated bioactive compounds on U87 and U251 glioblastoma cell lines, with H9C2 cardiac myocyte used as a normal cell line. The effect of plant extracts and compounds on cell viability and long-term survival was determined using the MTT [3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide] and clonogenic assay, respectively. Additionally, the ATP levels and apoptosis-inducing potential of the plant extracts and compounds were determined using the Promega Mitochondrial ToxGlo™ and Caspase-Glo™ 3/7 assay kits, respectively. The results reveal that both plant extracts and compounds induce cytotoxicity in glioblastoma cell lines, and the extracts also inhibit the long-term survival of U87 and U251 cells. The extracts were also selective to the cancer cells when the selectivity index was calculated. Furthermore, the plant extracts and compounds inhibited ATP production in the cancer cells, while induction of apoptosis was only evident in the compound-treated cells. Overall, our findings suggest that the Amaryllidaceae plant family could be a rich source of botanicals and phytochemicals that might be effective against glioblastoma.