¹PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong BE1410, Brunei Darussalam
²School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Sunway City 47500, Malaysia DOI : 10.29228/jrp.776 Morus alba L. has been used as traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and expectorant attributes. Their anti-cancer properties have been previously investigated in several cancer cells types. The phytochemical compounds present in this plant may be responsible for its pharmacological action. However, no studies have examined Brunei-grown M. alba’s extracts and its anti-cancer activity thus far. Wound-healing assay, proliferation assay, and apoptosis antibody array assay were performed to examine the ability of the leaves and root bark extracts of the plant to suppress migration and proliferation of leukaemia cancer cells. The wound-healing assay results suggested that both M. alba leaves and root bark extracts suppressed migration in a concentration-dependent manner, with M. alba root bark extract exhibiting more potent effects than leaves extract. Cell viability assessment or proliferation assay showed that M. alba root bark extract significantly decreased leukaemia cell viability. However, no effect on cell viability was observed with M. alba leaves extract-treated cells. Investigation using apoptosis antibody array suggested that M. alba root bark extract may induce apoptosis through a caspase-dependent manner, with proteins like Bax, Bad and caspase-3 found to be up-regulated upon treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that investigated M. alba locally obtained from Brunei Darussalam, with observation of promising therapeutic potential. Keywords : Morus Alba; anti-cancer; apoptosis; leaves extract; root bark extract