Protein Synthesis by the Plant Rootlet as a Target for the Rapid Screening of Anticancer Drugs: The Experimental Model Utilization of the Germination of Lepidium sativum Seeds

Abstract

Backgrounds: Protein biosynthesis takes place in the ribosome. Some antibiotic and antitumor molecules show more reactivity and affinity with ribosome proteins. These observations encourage the search for protein synthesis inhibitors of targets in the fight against infectious diseases and cancer. This study assessed the utilization of Lepidium sativum (LS) seeds germination in rapidly screening new anticancer candidates for drugs. Methods: Antineoplastic prescribed in the clinic was used at different concentrations in the medium of LS seed germination, and the rootlet length was measured after 72 hours. Results: The results showed that antineoplastics inhibitors of protein synthesis inhibit the germination of seed rootlets whatever their origin: chemicals (R² = 0.99), antibiotics (R² = 0.87), or extracts of medicinal plants (R² = 0.93). The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) obtained was close to that of cancer cell lines. Conclusion: To our knowledge. This is the first demonstration that utilization of seed germination of LS might be used for the rapid screening of new antineoplastics candidates.