In vitro Anti-Cancer Activity of Oliveria decumbens Vent. Extract, an Endemic Persian Medicinal Plant, on HT-29 Colorectal Cancer Cell Line

Introduction The top 3 causes of death worldwide include heart disease, injury, and cancer; and cancer records the 2 nd place as the leading cause of death in the United States of America after cardiovascular diseases and injuries. Cancer can begin and progress in a very highly twisted and complex pattern and follow the multifactorial route. There is only very few research on medicinal properties Oliveria decumbens rare and valuable plant specially on cancer. So, in this study we tried to cover all needs for future in vivo research. Methods MTT assay has been performed to estimate the cytotoxicity of the ethanolic extract of the plant. Its free radical capacity evaluation was done by DPPH assay. Furthermore, real-time PCR, the wound-healing assay along with a DNA damage test to study DNA fragmentation characteristics. The plant’s transcriptomic study was performed by NGS de Novo assembly. Result Oliveria decumbens ethanolic extract showed an Ic 50 of 14.39 μg/ml. The real-time PCR showed that Oliveria decumbens ethanolic extract significantly induced apoptosis by upregulating the bax gene and slight downregulation of bcl2 an anti-apoptosis gene. The NGS de Novo transcriptome analysis discovered 38 genes responsible for secondary metabolite synthesis so far. The remaining genes and reconstruction of the co-expression network of the transcriptome are underway. Conclusion The outcome of the Scratch-test and DNA fragmentation confirmed the anti-metastatic and DNA damage properties respectively. Based on these findings; Oliveria decumbens ethanolic extract shall be considered as potential anticancer and chemotherapeutic agents which may elucidate in upcoming studies.