Cytotoxic effects of Cuscuta europaea ethanol extract and modulation of apoptosis-, cell cycle-, and inflammation-related gene expression

The effects of Cuscuta europaea (CE) ethanol extract were investigated in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, PC3 prostate cancer cells, and non-malignant endothelial HUVECs. The MTT assay was used to determine cell viability following exposure to increasing CE concentrations for 24, 48, and 72 h, and IC₅₀ values were estimated from the concentration-response curves. Transcript levels of Bax, Bcl-2, p27, COX-2, and iNOS were measured after exposure to 200 µg/mL CE as markers related to apoptosis, cell-cycle regulation, and inflammation. CE treatment reduced MDA-MB-231 and PC3 cell viability in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. HUVECs were less affected under the same experimental conditions. IC₅₀ values decreased with exposure time in both cancer cell lines, while HUVECs showed lower sensitivity to CE. Gene expression analysis showed increased Bax and p27 transcript levels together with decreased Bcl-2, COX-2, and iNOS expression in MDA-MB-231 and PC3 cells. HUVECs showed the opposite transcriptional pattern. The reduction in cancer cell viability therefore occurred alongside changes in genes related to apoptosis, cell-cycle regulation, and inflammation. Because the molecular analyses were limited to mRNA expression and HUVECs are not tissue-matched controls for either cancer cell line, the differences observed here should be interpreted as cell type-dependent responses rather than evidence of cancer-selective activity. Protein-level validation, functional assessment of apoptosis and cell-cycle distribution, and comparison with tissue-matched non-malignant models would be required to determine the biological significance of these transcriptional changes.