Evaluation of Cytotoxicity of Different Part Extracts of Ipomoea turpethum against Breast Cancer Cell Lines

The aim of the present study was to explore the anti-breast cancer activity of the plant I. turpethum together with the comparative analysis of the cytotoxicity of the extracts from different parts of the plant. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the plant revealed the identification of 71 compounds. The cytotoxicity of the extracts from different parts (whole, aerial, and root) of the plant was evaluated against the breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA MB-231) by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays. The findings of these assays were further confirmed by the carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) proliferation assay, DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) nuclear staining, and simple microscopy images. The results of the MTT assay revealed that the root extract showed the lowest IC50 values, i.e., 516 μg/mL for MCF-7 and 396 μg/mL for MDA MB-231 cell lines. The LDH release in the medium was high in the root extract treated cells, i.e., 28.87% for MCF-7 and 23.62% for MDA MB-231 cell lines. Moreover, the CFSE proliferation assay also showed the decrease in the proliferation of the cells up to 48.7% and 46.4% in case of MCF-7 and MDA MB-231 cells, respectively. The fragmented and condensed nuclear material in both the cell lines was observed in the DAPI nuclear staining. In conclusion, results showed that the root extract possess the highest cytotoxicity among all other tested extracts toward both breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA MB-231).