Investigation of the effect of Momordica charantia extract on Sparc and Src-1 protein expression in U87G cancer cell

Glioblastoma multiforme still maintains its place among the deadly brain tumors, even though approaches such as surgical resection, radiation therapy and high-dose chemotherapy have had limited success. Recent research has focused on Momordica charantia (MC), an equatorial plant that has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of many diseases, particularly diabetes. MC, which is called 'Kudret Narı' by Turkish people, is a plant belonging to Cucurbitaceae family which is known for its pharmacological activities and nutritional properties. Some studies with this plant confirm the presence of proteins and metabolites that act as anti-tumor and anti-viral agents with hypoglycemic effects in the structure of MC. In addition, many studies have shown that MC has little or no cytotoxic effect on normal cells. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of MC extract on cytotoxicity, cell viability and migration in U87G cell line in vitro. As a result of MTT analysis, IC50 value of MC extract was determined as 700 μg / ml in U87G cells (***p<0.001). Survival analysis showed that the extract had an increasing lethal effect at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours at 16.6%, 42.6%, 79.3% and 91.6%, respectively (*p <0.001). According to the wound-healing analysis,the wound closed at 24h in the control group and the wound gradually increased depending on time in the extract treated group (***p <0.001). Western blot analysis showed that treatment of glioblastoma cells with MC extract for 24 hours inhibited Sparc and Src-1 protein expression levels. According to the results, MC extract has a cytotoxic and a significant anti-proliferative and anti-invasive effect on U87G cell line.