Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2013) 31 P156 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.31.P156

SFEBES2013 Poster Presentations Neoplasia, cancer and late effects (26 abstracts)

Investigation of the antiproliferative effect of natural sesquiterpene lactones on human cancer cell lines

Judit Molnár 1 , Ildikó Lajter 2 , Zsuzsanna Hajdú 2 , Thomas Szekeres 3 , Philipp Saiko 3 , Judit Hohmann 2 & István Zupkó 1


1Department of Pharmacodynamics and Biopharmacy, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary; 2Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary; 3Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.


Plants and plant extracts play a crucial role in the research of novel antineoplastic agents. Five sesquiterpene lactones, 4β,15-dihydro-3-dehydrozaluzanin C (ddZC), zaluzanin C, artecanin, 3β-chloro-4α,10α-dihydroxy-1α,2α-epoxy-5α,7αH-guaia-11(13)-en-12,6α-olide and iso-secotanapartholide methyl ether were isolated from two traditionally used Asteraceae species (Onopordum acanthium and Artemisia asiatica). MTT-assay was used to determine the antiproliferative effect on human adherent cancer cell lines such as gynecological cell lines (HeLa, MCF7) and skin adenocarcinoma cell line (A431). The most effective compounds were further tested on HL-60 leukemia cell line by cell counting and reasonable IC50 values were obtained (3.6–13.5 μM). The two most effective natural products were subjected to additional tests in order to describe their apoptosis inducing capacity. Treatment with ddZC resulted in disturbance of cell cycle which was detected by means of flow cytometry. Concentration-dependent chromatin condensation and disruption of membrane integrity were detected after 24 h of incubation with 5 and 10 μM ddZC. Activation of caspase-3 by ddZC was additionally investigated. These experimental results indicate that sesquiterpene lactones and especially ddZC may be regarded as potential starting structures for development of novel anticancer agents.

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