A polysaccharide from Tinospora cordifolia stem induces cell cycle arrest in human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231

Plant-based therapies are practiced for various human and veterinary ailments since time immemorial. The present study is concerned with finding the anti-breast cancer potential of a novel polysaccharide isolated from the methanolic extract of Tinospora cordifolia stem. The compound tested on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 proved to have potential to induce death of both the cell lines with IC₅₀ at 100 μM, as revealed in MTT, and LDH assays, and AO/EtBr staining. DNA fragmentation studies indicated damage to DNA. Flow cytometric analysis showed polysaccharide-induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase in both the cell lines. Western blot studies made it evident that the polysaccharide inhibits cell cycle progression via change in the expression of cell cycle regulators such as Cyclin D1, Cyclin D3 and p18 INK4. In the in-silico approach the structure of the compound was drawn using ChemSketch and the ADME/T properties of the compound were analyzed using Accord for Excel software. The compound possesses good ADME/T properties required for an active drug. The compound was found to possess anticancer efficacy via its effect on cell cycle regulatory proteins in the breast cancer cell lines and also satisfied the ADME/T properties of a drug. Hence, the novel compound isolated from T. cordifolia stem may be evaluated further so as to develop it as a breast cancer drug.