Quantification and characterization of the antitumoral agent taccalonolides isolated from black bat flower (tacca chantrieri) in Indonesia

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Bat flower (Tacca chantrieri) is a widespread species that can be found in tropical regions of South East Asia. Phytochemical study reveals a class of anti-tumor compound called Taccalonolides, has been identified from the rhizome of bat flowers, T. chantrieri. As the primary source of taccalonolides, harvesting the rhizome of the plant gives a concern to the conservation of this species that is already difficult to cultivate. Finding the alternative sources to this compound can be a solution to prevent species extinction and ensure the sustainable production regime. We utilized LC-MS and LC-MS/MS for identification and quantification of Taccalonolide A and E in different plant tissues: leaves, stem, and rhizome. The concentrations of both Taccalonolide A and Taccalonolide E have been successfully determined in the three different plant tissues, leaves, stems and rhizomes collected from Indonesia and Australia. Our findings suggested that leaves and stems can be an excellent alternative source for this compound. We investigated the effect of environmental stress to the production and accumulation of taccalonolides in different plant tissues. Our study demonstrated that induced-water-stress enhance the production of Taccalonolide A and E significantly in the root and leaves of black bat flower. This study provides a solution to prevent species extinction and ensure the sustainable production of the bioactive antitumor molecules from the black bat flower (Tacca chantrieri). We also studied the bioactivity and possible mode of actions of antitumor compound, taccalonolides using the molecular genetic approach. Our findings suggested that Taccalonolide A has higher sensitivity against breast cancer cell line than normal breast cell line.