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Background: Cotinus coggygria has a long history of use in traditional medicine in Europe and Asia. The aim of study was to explore the cytotoxicity of extracts (EE-ethanol, MME-methylene chloride/methanol, and WE-water) and compounds (butin, butein, fisetin, sulfuretin, taxifolin, eriodictyol, fustin, cotinignan A, sulfuretin auronol, 3-O-methylepifustin, 3-O-methylfustin, and sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucoside) isolated from C. coggygria. Mechanisms of anticancer effects of three extracts, butin, butein, and sulfuretin were examined. Methods: Compounds were isolated from the EE using silica gel column chromatography and semipreparative HPLC. Structure elucidation was performed using NMR spectroscopy. Cytotoxicity was evaluated using MTT assay. The effects on cell cycle and cell death were investigated by flow cytometry. The antimigration effects were examined by scratch assay, while expression of the MMP2, MMP9, and VEGFA were measured by quantitative real time PCR. The antioxidant effects were examined by flow cytometry. Results: 3-O-methylepifustin, epitaxifolin, and sulfuretin auronol were found for the first time in C. coggygria. The extracts and compounds showed selective cytotoxicity against HeLa, MDA-MB-231, HL-60, K562, A375, PC-3, and DU 145 cells. HeLa cells were the most sensitive to the cytotoxicity of MME (IC50 value of 47.45 µg/mL), while leukemia K562 and HL-60 cells were the most sensitive to the MME and EE (IC50 values in the range from 31.04 to 44.57 µg/mL). Butein exerted strong cytotoxicity on HeLa, K562, and MDA-MB-231 cells (IC50 values of 8.66 µM, 13.91 µM, and 22.36 µM). EE, butin, butein, sulfuretin, and fisetin were highly selective against leukemia K562 cells when compared with normal fibroblasts MRC-5 (selectivity index: 4.01, 5.15, 6.17, 7.05, > 4.41, respectively). Butein and fisetin showed high selectivity in the cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells when compared with MRC-5 cells (selectivity index: 9.91 and > 6.61). Three extracts, butin, butein, and sulfuretin, initiated apoptosis in HeLa cells by activating caspase-8 and caspase-9. The extracts, butin, butein, and sulfuretin inhibited HeLa cell migration. EE, MME, butein, and sulfuretin exerted cytoprotective effects in normal fibroblasts. Conclusions: This research might suggest promising anticancer effects and underscores the need for additional research on C. coggygria extracts and compounds to assess their potential in cancer prevention and therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bryophytes play important role in forest ecosystem functioning and their distribution and diversity are driven by numerous environmental factors. The aim of the present study was to bring new insights in deeper understanding of terrestrial bryophytes diversity in temperate forests, as well as to determine the environmental factors which have predominant influence on ground-floor bryophytes. The survey was conducted in Fruška Gora Mountain (Serbia) across seven forest sites where ground-bryophytes were sampled. Soil moisture, temperature, and pH were measured as soil characteristics, while herbaceous cover, litter cover, stream distance, number of trees and shrubs were used as characteristics of stand structure. Species richness, Shannon diversity index, and evenness index were used as diversity measures. Generalised linear model and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were used to test the influence of environmental variables on bryophyte diversity. Litter cover was the most important explanatory variable, followed by soil moisture, stream distance and tree number, respectively. Overall, the stand structure was found to have a greater impact on ground-floor bryophyte diversity compared to soil characteristics. Identification of the most significant ecological factors affecting the diversity and distribution of bryophytes in forest ecosystems is of great importance in forest ecology with the aim of defining adequate management methods to preserve the biodiversity of forests, with particular emphasis on endangered and rare bryophyte species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]