Ethanol Extract of Croton Kongensis Promotes Cell Cycle Arrest and Consequently Inhibits Anchorage-Independent Growth of Cervical Cancer Hela Cells
Extracts from Croton kongenis present anticancer activities on various cancers. However, there is no research conducted to investigate the effects of Croton kongenis extracts on cervical cancer as well as on zebrafish. In this study, we demonstrated that Croton kongenis ethanol extract expressed high toxicity to cervical cancer Hela cells with an IC50 dose of 20.4 µg/mL and to zebrafish embryos with malformations, lethality and hatching inhibition at 72-hpf at effective dose of 125 µg/mL. Interestingly, treatment with Croton kongenis ethanol extract caused cell-cycle-arrest at the G2 phase. Particularly, percentages of Croton kongenis ethanol extract-treated cells in G1, S, G2/M were 70%, 6% and 23%, while percentages of control cells in G1, S, G2/M were 65%, 15% and 18%, respectively. Consistent with cell-cycle-arrest, the expressions of CDKN1A, CDNK2A and p53 in Croton kongenis ethanol extract-treated cells were up-regulated 2.0-, 1.65- and 1.8-fold, respectively. Significantly, treatment with Croton kongenis ethanol extract inhibited anchorage-independent growth of Hela cells; the number of colonies formed in soft-agar of Croton kongenis ethanol extract-treated cells was only one-fourth of that of control cells. In conclusion, we suggest that Croton kongenis ethanol extract could be able to use as a traditional medicine for treatment of cervical cancer.