Avaliação dos efeitos antitumorais da própolis vermelha em células humanas in vitro

Abstract

The Brazilian red propolis has attracted scientific and economic interests due to its varied biological activities. This natural product has diversify chemical composition according to the region in which it is found, then it is necessary a complete chemical characterization for each type of propolis, in order to elucidate the present compounds and responsible for the biological activity observed. In this work, we attempted to chemically characterize the extracts of Brazilian propolis, evaluate their antitumor activity as well as some cell death mechanisms, and to investigate the protein profile of larynx tumor cells treated and not treated with propolis extracts through comparative proteomic analysis. The chemical characterization showed that propolis has complex molecules, particularly isoflavones, which present significant biological activities, such as antitumor activity. The cytotoxic activity of two fractions and of the hydroalcoholic extract of propolis was assessed in Hep-2 tumor cell line, which proved to be more cytotoxic treatments in the investigated fractions. Flow cytometric assays showed that treated cells had lower mitochondrial membrane potential, increased amount of cells in late apoptosis (TUNEL and Annexin-V / PI), less generation of reactive oxygen species and increase in DNA fragmentation. Furthermore, the staining revealed the presence of apoptotic bodies and chromatin condensation. The proteomic analysis has allowed comparison of the maps of the protein Hep-2 cell line, in the absence or presence of propolis extracts, with non-tumor cell line Hek-293. These proteins were classified according to the biological processes which they are related. Besides, twelve identified proteins in Hep-2 showed reduced expression from the control group. Between them, many are presented in large quantities in other tumors and are considered tumor biomarkers. The results in general show that propolis interferes with a series of intracellular events and hence becomes a promising candidate to inhibit cell growth and contribute to the different steps relating to the process of carcinogenesis. Although the molecular mechanisms by which propolis interact with the metabolism of the cells remain unknown, further study will serve to better elucidate the antitumor activity of Brazilian propolis and its fractions.