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. 2016 Aug;68(4):1161-70.
doi: 10.1007/s10616-015-9874-9. Epub 2015 Apr 17.

Cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and mechanism of action (via gene expression analysis) of the indole alkaloid aspidospermine (antiparasitic) extracted from Aspidosperma polyneuron in HepG2 cells

Giuliana Castello Coatti  1 , Juliana Cristina Marcarini  2 , Daniele Sartori  2 , Queli Cristina Fidelis  3 , Dalva Trevisan Ferreira  3 , Mário Sérgio Mantovani  2
Affiliations

Cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and mechanism of action (via gene expression analysis) of the indole alkaloid aspidospermine (antiparasitic) extracted from Aspidosperma polyneuron in HepG2 cells

Giuliana Castello Coatti et al. Cytotechnology. 2016 Aug.

Abstract

Aspidospermine is an indole alkaloid with biological properties associated with combating parasites included in the genera Plasmodium, Leishmania and Trypanossoma. The present study evaluated the cytotoxicity (resazurin test), genotoxicity (comet assay) and mechanism of action (gene expression analysis via qRT-PCR) of this alkaloid in human HepG2 cells. The results demonstrated that treatment with aspidospermine was both cytotoxic (starting at 75 μM) and genotoxic (starting at 50 μM). There was no significant modulation of the expression of the following genes: GSTP1 and GPX1 (xenobiotic metabolism); CAT (oxidative stress); TP53 and CCNA2 (cell cycle); HSPA5, ERN1, EIF2AK3 and TRAF2 (endoplasmic reticulum stress); CASP8, CASP9, CASP3, CASP7, BCL-2, BCL-XL BAX and BAX (apoptosis); and PCBP4, ERCC4, OGG1, RAD21 and MLH1 (DNA repair). At a concentration of 50 μM (non-cytotoxic, but genotoxic), there was a significant increase in the expression of CYP1A1 (xenobiotic metabolism) and APC (cell cycle), and at a concentration of 100 μM, a significant increase in the expression of CYP1A1 (xenobiotic metabolism), GADD153 (endoplasmic reticulum stress) and SOD (oxidative stress) was detected, with repression of the expression of GR (xenobiotic metabolism and oxidative stress). The results of treatment with aspidospermine at a 100 μM concentration (the dose indicated in the literature to achieve 89 % reduction of the growth of L. amazonensis) suggest that increased oxidative stress and an unfolded protein response (UPR) occurred in HepG2 cells. For the therapeutic use of aspidospermine (antiparasitic), chemical alteration of the molecule to achieve a lower cytotoxicity/genotoxicity in host cells is recommended.

Keywords: Aspidospermine; Cytotoxicity; Gene expression; Genotoxicity; HepG2.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Chemical structure of aspidospermine (Pereira et al. 2007)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Cell survival curve obtained from the resazurin cytotoxicity test in HepG2 cells treated with aspidospermine at different concentrations for 24 h. The dots represent the average survival ± standard deviation values obtained in three independent experiments
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Genotoxicity values (comet length) obtained from comet assay after a 3 h treatment of HepG2 cells with 5 [5], 50 [50] and 100 μM [100] aspidospermine. Statistical significance: *** = p < 0.001 relative to the negative control without treatment (C−). Positive control (C +) was performed with 300 μM MMS
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Relative gene expression obtained via qRT-PCR for genes assessed after treatment of HepG2 cells for 6 h with 50 or 100 µM aspidospermine. *Significant modulation of expression
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