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Moringa oleifera: An apoptosis inducer in cancer cells
Abstract
Moringa oleifera, usually called “wonderful tree”, has been scientifically proven to inhibit proliferation of many cancer cell types by induction of apoptosis. Apoptosis is an energy dependent process, whereby cells due for death as a result of abnormal gene mutation, ageing among others commit suicide. It is referred to as hallmark of cancer. Proliferation of cancer cells is not unconnected to deficiency in their apoptotic process such as loss of caspase activity, p53 gene mutation and imbalanced regulation of Bcl2 proteins which leads to inactivation or reduction in cancer cell apoptosis, hence, agents that are capable of inducing apoptosis in cancer cells are potential sources of effective anticancer drug. The ability of M. oleifera to trigger apoptosis in cancer cells largely depends on its phytochemicals, most especially antioxidant phenols such as gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, rutin, apigenin, astragalin, quercetin, and kampferol. These compounds act by activating pro-apoptotic protein such as caspases, TRAIL, bax, bad, and inhibiting activity of anti-apoptotic proteins like Bcl2, IAPs (inhibitor of apoptosis), FLIP. In this review, we discussed cell apoptosis and its pathways, dysregulation of apoptosis in cancer cells, and more importantly, induction of apoptosis in cancer cells by Moringa oleifera tree.
Keywords: Apoptosis, cancer cells, Moringa oleifera
