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Investigation of Three Morchella Species for Anticancer Activity Against Colon Cancer Cell Lines by UPLC-MS-Based Chemical Analysis

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Abstract

In search of new anticancer agents, natural products including fungal compounds had been used as potential anticancer agents. The aim of this study was to investigate the anticancer activity of Morchella extracts against colon cancer cell line and UPLC-DAD-MS/MS analysis for the identification of compounds. The cytotoxic activity of the three Morchella species was examined for their anti-carcinogenic properties against the colon cancer cell lines. Phytochemical analyses were performed to screen Morchella for the presence of anti-cancerous compounds. All the fungal extracts inhibited the viability of colon cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. Major compounds identified in Morchella included amino acid, fatty acid, sterol, flavonoid, peptide, glutamic acid, alkaloid, terpenoid, cyclopyrrolones, and coumarin. Several new compounds were detected among all the three Morchella extracts. In conclusion, all the fungal extracts showed potential inhibition of colon cancer cells and actively arrested the cell viability. It was concluded that the identified bioactive compounds might be the main constituents contributing to the anticancer activity of Morchella against human colon cancer cell lines. Thus, Morchella extracts are a potential source of bioactive compounds with cytotoxicity and could potentially be used as functional food supplements. Due to the nature of impressive findings, this investigation should be undertaken further to allow the studies to explore and develop a potential cytotoxic agents against colon cancer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Department of Pharmacology, University of Health Sciences Lahore Pakistan for providing access to the facilities. The authors are grateful to Faiza Ali for their help in the research. We acknowledge with thanks Dr. Fatema Gaffar (De Montfort University Leicester, UK) for her help and support.

Funding

This study was supported by the Department of Microbiology, University of Health Sciences Lahore, Pakistan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

    Faiz Ul Haq, Muhammad Imran & Sidrah Saleem

  2. Department of Pharmacology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

    Ali Rafi

  3. Department of Microbiology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Garden Campus, Mardan, Pakistan

    Muhsin Jamal

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  1. Faiz Ul Haq
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Contributions

Faiz Ul Haq and Muhammad Imran designed study and developed the original idea and wrote the manuscript; Faiz Ul Haq performed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. Muhsin Jamal formatted and reviewed the manuscript. Muhammad Imran, Sidrah Saleem, and Ali Rafi contributed with the experiments setup. All authors read and approved the final draft.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Imran.

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Structures of identified compounds. (JPG 282 kb)

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Haq, F.U., Imran, M., Saleem, S. et al. Investigation of Three Morchella Species for Anticancer Activity Against Colon Cancer Cell Lines by UPLC-MS-Based Chemical Analysis. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 195, 486–504 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04131-z

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