Medicinal plants are potential sources for a wide range of complex compounds with probable anticancer activity. Ephedra foeminea Forssk. (E. foeminea), a medicinal plant found in the Eastern Mediterranean, has recently been gaining popularity as a cancer remedy; there is, however, a paucity of empirical evidence supporting this claim. In this study, the effect of E. foeminea ethyl acetate, ethanol, and water crude extracts on viability, migratory ability, and the steady-state mRNA levels of genes involved in these processes was, respectively, examined using MTT assay, wound healing assay, and reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). The study concludes that all extracts significantly reduce human osteosarcoma U2OS percentage viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with varying potencies. The least half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) was observed in the water extract after 48 h incubation () followed by the ethyl acetate extract after 72 h incubation () and finally the ethanol extract after 48 h incubation (). Ethanol extract significantly reduced U2OS percentage wound closure. On the other hand, both ethanol and water extracts considerably reduced the steady-state mRNA expression of beta-catenin, promoting both cell proliferation and migration in osteosarcoma by regulating target genes. Additionally, E. foeminea showed no hemolytic activity. These effects suggest that E. foeminea decreases U2OS cell viability and migratory ability by modulating the expression of critical genes involved in regulating these processes and is likely cytocompatible with human erythrocytes.

中文翻译：

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粗乙醇、乙酸乙酯和麻黄水提取物对人骨肉瘤 U2OS 细胞活力和迁移的潜在抗癌活性。


药用植物是多种具有可能抗癌活性的复杂化合物的潜在来源。麻黄福斯克。 ( E. foeminea ) 是一种在东地中海发现的药用植物，最近作为一种癌症药物而受到欢迎；然而，支持这一说法的经验证据却很少。在本研究中，分别使用 MTT 法、伤口愈合检查了E. foemine的乙酸乙酯、乙醇和水粗提物对活力、迁移能力和参与这些过程的基因的稳态 mRNA 水平的影响。分析和逆转录酶 PCR (RT-PCR)。该研究得出的结论是，所有提取物均以剂量和时间依赖性方式显着降低人类骨肉瘤 U2OS 的存活率，且效力各异。 孵育 48 小时后，在水提取物中观察到最小的半最大抑制浓度 (IC ₅₀ )（ ） ，然后是孵育 72 小时后的乙酸乙酯提取物（ ） ，最后是孵育 48 小时后的乙醇提取物（ ）。乙醇提取物显着降低 U2OS 伤口闭合百分比。另一方面，乙醇和水提取物均显着降低了β-连环蛋白的稳态mRNA表达，通过调节靶基因促进骨肉瘤中的细胞增殖和迁移。此外， E. foeminea没有表现出溶血活性。这些效应表明， E. foeminea通过调节参与调节这些过程的关键基因的表达来降低 U2OS 细胞活力和迁移能力，并且可能与人类红细胞具有细胞相容性。