This study demonstrates that inhibition of the proteasome is an important biological activity of M. koenigii alkaloids. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Cytotoxicity and Proteasome Inhibition by Alkaloid Extract from Murraya koenigii Leaves in Breast Cancer Cells-Molecular Docking Studies.
J Med Food. 2016 Dec ;19(12):1155-1165. PMID: 27982755
Ayesha Ismail
Murraya koenigii (curry tree) leaves are rich in bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, alkaloids, and coumarins. Alkaloids from M. koenigii leaves have antianalgesic, antiulcerogenic, antiobesity, and antitumor activities. In this study, we tested the cytotoxic and proteasome-inhibitory potential of a total alkaloid extract (TAE) from M. koenigii leaves in the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The TAE decreased cell viability with an ICof 14.4 μg/mL and altered growth kinetics of breast cancer cells. TAE (32 μg/mL) arrested cells (35%) in the"S"phase of the cell cycle and induced apoptosis. The 26S proteasome, a multicatalytic protease complex, promotes tumor cell proliferation and protects tumor cells from apoptosis. The TAE and mahanine, a carbazole alkaloid present in M. koenigii leaves, preferentially inhibited the trypsin-like, but not the chymotrypsin-like proteolytic activity of the proteasome with an ICof 162 μg/mL and 287 μM, respectively. In silico analysis of 26 compounds from M. koenigii leaves revealed significant docking scores for mahanine and two other carbazole alkaloids with the β2 and β5 subunits of the catalytic 20S proteasome. Taken together, this study demonstrates that inhibitionof the proteasome is an important biological activity of M. koenigii alkaloids, which may lead to cancer cell death.