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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Grain Quality and Structure Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #347392
Research Project: Impact of the Environment on Sorghum Grain Composition and Quality Traits

Location: Grain Quality and Structure Research

Title: High-polyphenol sorghum bran extract inhibits cancer cell growth through DNA damage, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis

Author
item Smolensky, Dmitriy
item Rhodes, Davina
item McVey, David
item Fawver, Zachary
item PERUMAL, RAMASAMY - Kansas State University
item Herald, Thomas
item Noronha, Leela

Submitted to: Journal of Medicinal Food
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/16/2018
Publication Date: 5/7/2018
Citation: Smolensky, D., Rhodes, D.H., Mcvey, D.S., Fawver, Z.T., Perumal, R., Herald, T.J., Noronha, L.E. 2018. High-polyphenol sorghum bran extract inhibits cancer cell growth through DNA damage, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. Journal of Medicinal Food. DOI:10.1089/jmf.2018.0008.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2018.0008

Interpretive Summary: As diet is one of the major controllable factors in cancer development, potentially chemopreventive foods are of significant interest to public health. One such food is sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), a cereal grain that contains varying concentrations of polyphenols with health promoting benefits. In a panel of 15 sorghum germplasm, we identified some strains with higher polyphenol content than previously reported for this grain. Bran extracts from the germplasm with the highest and lowest polyphenol content were tested against liver and colorectal cancer cell lines. The high-polyphenol sorghum extracts reduced cancer cell viability and induced programmed cell death. The results indicate that high-polyphenol sorghum bran extracts have potential anticancer properties, and warrant further research.

Technical Abstract: As diet is one of the major controllable factors in cancer development, potentially chemopreventive foods are of significant interest to public health. One such food is sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), a cereal grain that contains varying concentrations of polyphenols. In a panel of 15 sorghum germplasm, we identified strains with higher polyphenol content than previously reported for this grain. Bran extracts from the germplasm with the highest and lowest polyphenol content were then tested against HepG2 and Caco2 cancer cells to assess effects on cancer cell viability, reactive oxygen species, apoptosis, DNA damage, cell cycle arrest, and protein expression patterns. High-polyphenol extracts, but not low-polyphenol extracts, reduced cell viability by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest following production of reactive oxygen species and oxidative DNA damage. The results indicate that high-polyphenol sorghum bran extracts have potential anticancer properties, and warrant further research, not only to test against specific cancers, but also to elucidate underlying mechanisms of action.