Cytotoxic Effect of Prunus Divaricata Ledeb. Extract on Lung Cancer Cells and Determination of Expression Profiles of Genes in the MAP-Kinase Pathway

Cherry plum (Prunus divaricata Ledeb.) is a diploid fruit tree that belongs to the Rosaceae family. Anticarcinogenic activity of Prunus divaricata Ledeb. methanol extract was examined in lung cancer cell lines A549 and H1299 as well as in healthy cell line Beas-2b in this study. The changes in the expression levels of the most frequently mutated oncogenes in lung cancer, KRAS, EGFR, BRAF, and PIK3CA were investigated as well. In vitro cytotoxicity assays of P. divaricata Ledeb. fruit methanol extract was conducted by measuring the percentage of viable cells spectrophotometrically using the cell viability identification kit (CVDK) based on the colorimetric method. The AB 7500 Fast RT-PCR device with Sybr Green Master Mix was used to create gene expression profiles, and the Ct values of all genes were assessed by normalizing the Ct value of the housekeeping gene. The methanol extract of P. divaricata Ledeb. fruit was found to have a cytotoxic effect on A549 and H1299 cancer cell lines at 20 mg/ml, but not on the Beas-2b cell line at these concentrations. By reducing proliferation, low KRAS and PIK3CA gene expression caused the cells to undergo apoptosis. The methanol extract of P. divaricata Ledeb. fruit has been found to inhibit the development of cancerous cells while promoting the proliferation of healthy cells. We believe it does this through the apoptotic pathway by regulating gene expression levels in oncogenes via the MAP-Kinase pathway.