Anti-proliferative activity of leaf extracts from Antipolo (<i>Artocarpus blancoi</i> (Elmer) Merr.)

Rod Vincent Borromeo; Ranelle Janine Asi; Merrah Joy Blaya Subebe; Muhmin Michael E. Manting; Sonia D. Jacinto; Akiko Omori; Liza Adamat; Christine Cherry Solon; Mylene M. Uy; Ahmad Reza F. Mazahery; Mylah Villacorte-Tabelin

VOLUME 18 NUMBER 2 (July to December 2025)

PSL%202021 vol14-no01-p12-28-Mikita%20and%20Padlan

SciEnggJ. 2025 18 (2) 476-483
available online: 26 December 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54645/2025182ZDY-88

*Corresponding author
Email Address: mylah.tabelin@g.msuiit.edu.ph
Date received: 10 December 2024
Dates revised: 29 April 2025
Date accepted: 29 July 2025

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ARTICLE

Anti-proliferative activity of leaf extracts from Antipolo (Artocarpus blancoi (Elmer) Merr.)

Rod Vincent Borromeo^1,2, Ranelle Janine Asi², Merrah Joy Blaya Subebe^1,3, Muhmin Michael E. Manting¹, Sonia D. Jacinto², Akiko Omori^4,5, Liza Adamat³, Christine Cherry Solon³, Mylene M. Uy^3,6, Ahmad Reza F. Mazahery², and Mylah Villacorte-Tabelin*^1,3

¹Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and
     Mathematics, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of
     Technology, Tibanga, Iligan City, 9200 Philippines
²Institute of Biology, College of Science, University of the
     Philippines, Diliman 1101 Quezon City
³Center for Natural Products and Drug Discovery, PRISM,
     Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology,
     Tibanga, Iligan City, 9200 Philippines
⁴Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy
⁵Department of Biological Sciences, Osaka University,
     Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
⁶Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Mathematics,
     Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology,
     Tibanga, Iligan City, 9200 Philippines

KEYWORDS: MCF-7, cell proliferation, leaf crude extracts, MTT assay, breast cancer, medicinal plant

The discovery and isolation of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants opened a new avenue in pharmacology, opening new avenues for cancer treatment. Most of these bioactive compounds are known to affect the hallmarks of cancer such as unrestrained proliferation. This study aims to assess the effect of crude leaf extracts (methanolic, aqueous, ethyl acetate and hexane extracts) from Artocarpus blancoi, locally known as “Antipolo,” on cancer cell proliferation. The MCF-7 cell line was used to screen Antipolo’s cytotoxic activity. However, although MCF-7 is widely used for breast cancer research, it has limitations because it lacks certain mutations found in more aggressive breast cancer subtypes. Crude leaf extracts of A. blancoi were tested for effects on MCF-7 cell viability using an MTT assay and Ki67 immunofluorescence. Phytochemical analysis identified alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, steroids, and tannins in the leaves of A. blancoi. The ethyl acetate extract was the most cytotoxic (IC50 = 47.2 μg/mL). Immunofluorescence staining for Ki67 showed that Ki67 expression decreased at lower concentrations (25 and 12.5 μg/mL) of the ethyl acetate extract. Altogether, these results suggest that the ethyl acetate extract from A. blancoi may possess potential as a therapeutic agent in breast cancer treatment.