In vitro screening for growth inhibition activity on cancer cell lines of northern Chile highlands shrubs

ABSTRACT: Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Many chemotherapeutics from plants have been tested in cancer, such as vinblastine and paclitaxel. The north of Chile, Arica & Parinacota region, is characterized by its vegetal biodiversity due to its unique geographical and climatological conditions, offering an unexplored and unique source of naturally-derived compounds. The present research has considered a screening of 26 highland herbs using an in vitro growth inhibition model in a panel of six cancer cell lines from different tissues. 5 of the 26 studied ethanolic extracts shows strong activity at least in one cell line when tested at 10 µg mL-1. We present a group of plants worthy to be evaluated as promissory extracts. This work is part of the systematic attempt to find new candidates to be used in cancer therapies.

摘要：癌症仍是全球范围内主要致死病因之一。多种源自植物的化疗药物已在癌症治疗中开展测试，例如长春碱（vinblastine）与紫杉醇（paclitaxel）。智利北部的阿里卡-帕里纳科塔地区凭借独特的地理与气候条件，拥有丰富的植物多样性，为天然来源化合物提供了一处尚未被探索的独特宝库。本研究针对26种高地草本植物开展筛选，采用体外（in vitro）生长抑制模型，以六种不同组织来源的癌细胞系（cancer cell lines）作为测试对象。在10微克/毫升的测试浓度下，26种受试乙醇提取物中有5种至少对一种癌细胞系表现出较强的抑制活性。本研究筛选出一批极具开发潜力的植物提取物，值得进一步开展相关评估。本工作是系统性寻找癌症治疗候选药物的研究尝试的一部分。