Antiproliferative xylan from corn cobs induces apoptosis in tumor cells

Raniere Fagundes Melo-Silveira; Rony Lucas Silva Viana; Diego Araujo Sabry; Rodrigo Augusto da Silva; Daisy Machado; Ana Karina Lima Nascimento; Katia Castanho Scortecci; Carmen Veríssima Ferreira-Halder; Guilherme Lanzi Sassaki; Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.01.073

Antiproliferative xylan from corn cobs induces apoptosis in tumor cells

Carbohydr Polym. 2019 Apr 15:210:245-253. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.01.073. Epub 2019 Jan 23.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 59.078-970, Brazil. Electronic address: ranieremelosilveira@gmail.com.
² Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 59.078-970, Brazil. Electronic address: rony_lucas@hotmail.com.
³ Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 59.078-970, Brazil. Electronic address: popoh.diego@gmail.com.
⁴ Laboratório de Transdução do Sinal e Bioensaios, Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: dasilva.rodrigo.a@gmail.com.
⁵ Laboratório de Transdução do Sinal e Bioensaios, Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: daisy.machado@gmail.com.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 59.078-970, Brazil. Electronic address: karinalima.bio@gmail.com.
⁷ Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 59.078-970, Brazil. Electronic address: kacscort@yahoo.com.
⁸ Laboratório de Transdução do Sinal e Bioensaios, Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: carmenv@unicamp.br.
⁹ Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, 81.531-980, Brazil. Electronic address: sassaki@ufpr.br.
¹⁰ Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 59.078-970, Brazil. Electronic address: hugo@cb.ufrn.br.

PMID: 30732760
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.01.073

Abstract

Xylan is one of the most abundant hemicellulose constituents in the plant kingdom. We extracted xylan from corn cobs (XCC) using ultrasound. The structure of XCC was determined by NMR analysis, which revealed a composition of xylose:glucose:arabinose:galactose:mannose:glucuronic acid in a molar percentage ratio of 48:21:16:10:2.5:2.5. XCC induced the proliferation of murine macrophage cells (RAW 264.7) and inhibited the proliferation of human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells (A549) by 20% and human cervical adenocarcinoma cells (HeLa) by 60%. Several cell death-associated morphological changes were observed after the exposure of HeLa cells to XCC for 24 h. In addition, by using fluorescent probes, we observed a larger number of irregular and pyknotic nuclei with condensed chromatin bodies (nuclear condensation). FACS analysis showed an increase in the number of annexin V-positive and propidium iodide (PI)-positive cells (37.0%) in the presence of XCC compared with that of the negative control cells (5.0%). XCC also increased the ratio of Bax:Bcl-2 (3.5:1) and the levels of cytochrome c, caspase 3, and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) in treated cells. Therefore, the results demonstrated the antiproliferative potential of XCC, which induced apoptosis in HeLa cells.

Keywords: Cell death; HeLa cells; Ultrasound; Xylan; Zea mays.

MeSH terms

Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
Apoptosis / drug effects*
Cell Proliferation / drug effects
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / drug effects
HeLa Cells
Humans
Xylans / pharmacology*
Zea mays / chemistry*

Substances

Antineoplastic Agents
Xylans