Anti-angiogenic potential of novel 31kDa protein of Zanthoxylum rhesta is mediated by inhibition of HIF-1α nuclear translocation in vivo

A novel anticancer protein was isolated and purified from the pericarp of Zanthoxylum rhesta, a plant of culinary and ethnomedicinal importance from the Asian subcontinent. The partial purification process was followed by the fast protein liquid chromatography, gel permeation chromatography. This purified protein was obtained as a single band in the SDS-PAGE with molecular mass of 31 kDa and was named as ZRP. It showed anti-angiogenic activity in vivo in Swiss albino mice inoculated with EAC cells indicated by the reduced peritoneal angiogenesis. In ovo CAM assay also showed reduced neoangiogenesis. ZRP accompanied in VEGF reduction due to hindered nuclear translocation of HIF-1α which is a clear evidence of anti-angiogenic potential of the ZRP protein.