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Schinus polygamus (Anacardiaceae) is a shrub cultivated in Egypt for ornamental purpose. The major components of bark oil were dl-limonene (29.74%), followed by myrtenal (14.02%) and caryophyllene oxide (11.34%), while E-caryophyllene (55.86%), dl-limonene (27.71%) and β-pinene (3.54%) were predominant in the leaf oil. These isolated oils were screened for their antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 33591, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145, Candida albicans MTCC183 and Aspergillus niger NRRL 595, and two clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. The leaf oil showed a remarkable inhibitory effect against all tested bacterial strains with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range of 25 to 300 µg/mL, while the bark oil was active against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145 only. Furthermore, the bark and leaf oils revealed potent cytotoxic effects on HepG2 and Caco-2 cells with IC50 values of 1.56 to 24.12 µg/mL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Agavaceae species extracts had promising cytotoxicity against some cancer cells. • Some fractions from P. tuberosa, Y. filamentosa and F. Watsoniana had strong cytotoxicity. • Cytotoxicity shown by extracts may be related to steroidal saponins present. Among the plants which are determined to be a promising source of anticarcenogenic agents are members of Agavaceae family which are common in tropical and subtropical regions such as Egypt. In this study, cytotoxic activity were assessed for the methanolic extracts and fractions from five members of Agavaceae family: Sansevieria cylindrica Bojer., Polianthes tuberosa L., Sansevieria trifasciata Prain., Yucca filamentosa L. and Furcraea watsoniana Hort. against MCF-7 (breast), HepG-2 (hepatoma), and Caco-2 (colon) cancer cell lines by MTT method. The n -hexane fraction of P. tuberosa leaves extract demonstrated strong cytotoxic potential against all three cancer cell lines (CC 50 <20 µg/ml). The ethyl acetate fractions of Y. filamentosa and F. watsoniana leaves significantly inhibited proliferation of hepatocellular HepG-2 (CC 50 = 6.21 µg/ml and 19.07 µg/ml, respectively) and intestinal epithelium Caco-2 carcinoma cells (CC 50 = 18.86 µg/ml and 23.25 µg/ml, respectively). Presumably, the cytotoxic activity exhibited by n -hexane fraction of P. tuberosa , ethyl acetate fractions of Y. filamentosa and F. watsoniana may be related to the steroidal saponins that are present in these samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To characterize, identify and investigate the anticancer properties of two new soil fungal isolates, Emericella nidulans and Fusarium solani isolated from Wady El-Natron in Egypt against colon cancer Caco-2 (ATCC) cell line. Methods: Soil sample was cultured and two strains were chosen for morphological and phenotypical characterization. Partial sequences of the 18s rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer region ITS of the two isolates were amplified by PCR. Phylogenetic tree construction and analysis of the resulted multiple sequences from the two fugal isolates were also carried out. In vitro anticancer activity of the two strains was done against colon Caco-2 cancer cell line. Reverse transcription – PCR was carried out to detect level of expression of p53 in Caco-2 cell line. Results: HF.1 displayed morphological and genotypic characteristics most similar to that of Fusarium solani while HF.2 was most similar to Emericella nidulans with high similarity of 99% and 97% respectively. The multiple sequence alignment of the two fungal isolates showed that, the maximum identical conserved domains in the 18s rRNA genes were identified with the nucleotide regions of 51st to 399th base pairs, 88th to 525th base pairs respectively. While those in the ITS genes were identified with the nucleotide regions of 88th to 463rd and 51st to 274th. The two isolates showed IC50 value with (6.24 ± 5.21) and (9.84 ± 0.36) μg/mL) concentrations respectively at 28h. Reverse transcription – PCR indicated that these cells showed high level of expression for p53 mRNA. Conclusions: The morphology and molecular analysis identified HF.1 and HF.2 to be Fusarium solani and Emericella nidulans; new isolates of anticancer producing fungi from Wady El-Natroon city in Egypt. Treatment with the two isolates caused P53 expression in Caco-2 cell line. These two isolates can be used as an anticancer agents. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]