title: Selective cytotoxicity evaluation in anticancer drug screening of fractionated plant extracts.
abstract: Chosen to reflect biodiversity in a phylogenetic sense, 100 fractionated plant extracts were screened in vitro for cytotoxicity following extraction and fractionation (polypeptide isolation). Of these 100 extracts, 30 were selected and then characterized preliminarily for antitumor potency and mode of action by testing them on two cell lines and primary cultures of human tumor cells. On the basis of cytotoxicity potency, 10 of the extracts were further characterized for anticancer activity in 10 human tumor cell lines. This final testing resulted in seven potential lead plants with superior evidence of antitumor potential: Colchicum autumnale L. (Colchicaceae), Digitalis lanata Ehrh. and Digitalis purpurea L. (Plantaginaceae), Helleborus cyclophyllus Boiss. (Ranunculaceae), Menyanthes trifoliata L. (Menyanthaceae), and Viola arvensis Murr. and Viola patrinii Ging. (Violaceae). Within a database of antitumor compounds, the activity profiles of the extracts from these seven plants were compared, by correlation analysis, with those of more than 100 other compounds, including 39 standard drugs from different classes of cytotoxic mechanisms. The activity profiles of six of these candidates were uncorrelated with those of the standard drugs, possibly indicating new pathways of drug-mediated cell death.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lindholm
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gullbo
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Claeson
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Göransson
authors.forename: Senia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Backlund
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bohlin
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001331:Automation; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011786:Quality Control; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D010936:Plant Extracts