Rumex crispus (yellow dock), an herbal remedy used in Turkey and the Far East, has been shown to possess anti-microtubulin, anti-inflammatory and antimalarial activity. It is used to treat constipation, diarrhea and eczema, and it has been shown to be cytotoxic and/or induce apoptosis in T47D, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-436 breast cancer cells and other cancer cell lines. Studies in our laboratory have shown that plant species (e.g., Ginger, Turmeric) with anti-inflammatory activity have cellular components cytotoxic for 4T1 murine breast cancer cells. To our knowledge, the cytotoxicity of yellow dock against 4T1 cells has not been investigated. Yellow dock root powder was subjected to dichloromethane reflux (1 hr), and the resulting extract was resolved by Sephadex LH20 chromatography (75% ethanol). Fractions were pooled based upon UV-visible spectroscopic analysis (280 nm), and pooled fractions were assayed for 4T1 cell cytotoxicity (MTS assay). Pooled cytotoxic fractions were further characterized via HPLC (C18, 0-75% methanol gradient over 30 min). Six HPLC peaks were identified as cytotoxic to 4T1 cells (MTS assay). None of the six peaks co-migrated with emodin or chrysophanol, known bioactive components of yellow dock. Mass spectroscopic analysis (MALDI TOF) of the six HPLC is in shown in Table 1. None of the six HPLC peaks contained species that corresponded to emodin (270.24), chyrsophanol (254.21), nepodin (216.13) or known bioactive anthroquinones. Further studies are underway to characterize these 4T1 cytotoxins.

4T1 Murine breast cancer cell cytotoxins in Rumex crispus (Yellow Dock)

249th National Meeting (2015)

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