Edible Tuber Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Extract Induces Apoptosis and Suppresses Migration of Breast Cancer Cells

Medicinal plants offer enormous possibilities in the quest of novel bioactive formulation for cancer therapy. Here, we studied the anticancer efficacy of the extract of edible tuber Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) (APTE) against estrogen positive MCF-7 and triple negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. APTE showed significant cytotoxic activity in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose and time-dependent manner. The effect of APTE on metastatic parameters e.g., migration, adhesion, and invasion in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were studied using wound healing, collagen adhesion, and transwell matrigel invasion assays, respectively. APTE significantly reduced migration in both the cell lines, however, its effect on the inhibition of adhesion and invasion was higher in MDA-MB-231 cells. Annexin V-Cy3 staining suggested that APTE induced apoptosis in these cells which was further validated by attenuation of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 and induction of pro-apoptotic Bax, Caspase-7 expression and cleavage of PARP. High resolution-liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy analysis with bioactive ethyl acetate and butanol fractions of APTE detected several compounds with anticancer activities. Overall, the study described the mechanism of anticancer activity of a common edible tuber A. paeoniifolius and contributes to growing list of naturally occurring chemo-preventive strategies.