Effect of 3-O-acetylaleuritolic acid from in vitro-cultured Drosera spatulata on cancer cells survival and migration.

Drosera spatulata is a source of many compounds such as naphthoquinones, phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and naphthalene derivatives. Unfortunately, the information regarding the biological activity and chemical profile of those compounds is still incomplete. Herein, we investigated the biological activity of 3-O-acetylaleuritolic acid (3-O-AAA) in cancer cell lines.The cell viability of HeLa, HT-29, MCF7, and MCF12A cells was assessed using MTT assay. Proliferation potential was assessed using the clonogenic assay and flow cytometry. Migration modulation was tested using a scratch assay. Protein expression was analyzed by immunoblotting.3-O-AAA significantly inhibited the growth of all tested tumor cells. The results of the colony formation assay suggested cytostatic properties of the studied compound. The scratch assay showed that 3-O-AAA was an efficient migration inhibitor in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, it caused modulation of mTOR, beclin1, and Atg5 proteins suggesting a possible role of the compound in autophagy induction.Collectively, these results demonstrated that 3-O-AAA inhibited the proliferation and migration of cancer cell lines as well as contributed to autophagy induction showing some anticancer properties.