C/EBPA AS A BIOMARKER GENE IN CANCER CELL AND ITS RELATION TO NATURAL ANTICANCER COMPOUNDS.

Leukemia is a rapidly progressive disease which is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Several therapy modalities have been employed in the treatment of leukemia such as natural anticancer compounds which found in plants e.g. Saussurea Lappa (S. lappa). To determine cytotoxic activity of S. lappa extracts in relation to CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein Alpha (C/EBPA) gene expression, in addition to phytochemical analysis and antioxidant activity. Successive extraction of S. lappa root powder using methanol, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate and chloroform solvents with separation of twelve fractions from chloroform extract by thin layer chromatography (TLC). Estimation of total phenolic and total flavonoid were done together with antioxidant, cytotoxic activity of S. lappa extracts which has been tested on three leukemia cell cultures by MTT assay. C/EBPA gene expression was detected by quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR). The chloroform extract of S. lappa showed the highest cytotoxic activity against three cancer cell cultures. Regarding C/EBPA gene expression in leukemic cells after addition of chloroform fractions (C2+C9) from the S. lappa plant, we found a statistically significant difference (P value 0.008) with (C9) compound; this denotes the higher cytotoxic activity of (C9) on the leukemia cells. The S. lappa roots contain phenol and flavonoid compounds, which have a high cytotoxic effect on leukemic cells and improve CEBPA gene expression which is a known good prognostic marker. Further studies of S. lappa for the elucidation of the cytotoxic mechanisms considered as immense importance to deal with leukemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]