Growth inhibition and apoptosis induced by 2 phenoxymethyl-3H-quinazolin-4-one in HL-60 leukemia cells

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate anticancer activity of newly synthesized 2-phenoxymethyl-3H-quinazolin-4-one (PMQ). Materials and Methods: Anticancer activity of PMQ was studied towards human HL-60 leukemia cells. Antiproliferative activity of PMQ was determined by direct counting of cells using trypan blue staining technique. Apoptosis and cell cycle profile changes were analysed using internucleosomal DNA fragmentation assay and flow cytometry. Activation of caspases and changes in glutathione level were monitored using colorimetric or luminiscent methods. Results: PMQ induced concentration-dependent cytotoxicity in leukemia cells, with IC50 of 10.8 ± 0.9 µM. DNA flow cytometry analysis and DNA ladder formation assay indicated that PMQ actively induced apoptosis of cells accompanied by a block of cells in G2/M phase and a marked loss of cells in G0/G1 and S phases. Additionally, the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 were increased significantly and a markedly increased level of oxidized glutahione was observed. Inhibition of glutahione synthesis using buthionine sulfoximine sensitized leukemia cells to PMQ, confirming the involvement of ROS in PMQ-induced apoptosis. Conclusion: The results of this study clearly demonstrate that PMQ is a promising anticancer drug showing cytostatic and apoptotic effects toward HL-60 leukemia cells mainly through mitochondrial/caspase-9 dependent pathway.Цель: изучить антипролиферативную активность нового синтезированного 2-феноксиметил-3Н-хиназолин-4-она (PMQ). Материалы и методы: антипролиферативную активность PMQ определяли по отношению к клеткам лейкоза линии HL-60 в тесте с трипановым синим при стандартном подсчете клеток. Апоптоз и клеточный цикл оценивали с помощью проточной цитометрии и анализа фрагментации внутриядерной ДНК. Активацию каспаз и изменения уровня глутатиона определяли колориметрическими или люминисцентными методами. Результаты: PMQ индуцирует дозозависимую цитотоксичность в клетках линии HL-60 (IC50 при 10,8 ± 0,9 μM). При проведении анализа ДНК с применением проточной цитометрии и определением формирования апоптической лестницы было показано, что PMQ активно индуцирует апоптоз и блокаду клеточного цикла в G2 /M фазе митоза и выраженной потерей клеток в G0 /G1 и S фазах. Кроме того, была достоверно повышена активность каспазы-3 и -9 и выраженно увеличен уровень окисленного глутатиона. Применение бутионин сульфоксимина привело к угнетению синтеза глутатиона и повышению чувствительности клеток HL-60 к PMQ, что подтверждает факт участия РФК в PMQ-индуцированном апоптозе. Выводы: PMQ проявил себя как потенциальное противоопухолевое средство против клеток лейкоза человека HL-60 с выраженным цитостатическим и проапоптическим действием

Antiproliferative activity and apoptosis induced by 6-bromo-2-(morpholin-1-yl)-4-anilinoquinazoline on cells of leukemia lines

Quinazolines are known to be multitarget agents with broad spectrum of biological activity. Aim: To investigate anticancer activity of newly prepared 6-bromo-2-(morpholin-1-yl)-4-anilinoquinazoline (BMAQ) towards L1210, HL-60 and U-937 leukemia cells. Materials and Methods: Growth inhibition of BMAQ-treated cells was determined by cell counting using trypan blue staining technique. Apoptosis and cell cycle profile changes were analysed using internucleosomal DNA fragmentation assay, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Activity of caspase-3 was determined using colorimetric method. Results: Cell proliferation assay showed that BMAQ caused significant decrease of cell number in a dose-dependent manner. BMAQ induced cell death by apoptosis, based on results from DNA fragmentation, fluorescence microscopy and caspase-3 assays. Conclusion: Presented results clearly demonstrate that BMAQ is a promising anticancer agent with significant antiproliferative and apoptotic activities towards leukemia cells in vitro.Квиназолины известны как химиопрепараты широкого спектра действия. Цель: на моделях лейкозных клеток линий L1210, HL-60 и U-937 изучить противоопухолевую активность нового препарата 6-бромо-2-(морфолин-1-ил)-4-аналиноиназолина (BMAQ). Методы: ингибирование роста клеток под действием BMAQ изучали путем подсчета количества клеток, окрашенных трипановым синим. Апоптоз и изменения профиля клеточного цикла исследовали с помощью флуоресцентной микроскопии, электрофореза ДНК и проточной цитометрии. Активность каспазы-3 определяли колориметрическим методом. Результаты: показано, что BMAQ вызывает значительное дозозависимое уменьшение количества лейкозных клеток. При этом клетки, обработанные BMAQ, погибают путем апоптоза, что дается образованием апоптотических телец, межнуклеосомной фрагментацией ДНК и активацией каспазы-3. Выводы: представленные результаты свидетельствуют о том, что BMAQ обладает антипролиферативной и проапоптотической активностью в отношении лейкозных клеток in vitro

Antiproliferative and Proapoptotic Activities of Methanolic Extracts from Ligustrum vulgare L. as an Individual Treatment and in Combination with Palladium Complex

The aim of this study is to examine the growth inhibitory effects of methanolic leaf and fruit extracts of L. vulgare on HCT-116 cells over different time periods and their synergistic effect with a Pd(apox) complex. The antiproliferative activity of plant extracts alone or in combination with the Pd(apox) complex was determined using MTT cell viability assay, where the IC50 value was used as a parameter of cytotoxicity. Results show that antiproliferative effects of L. vulgare extracts increase with extension of exposure time, with decreasing IC50 values, except for 72 h where the IC50 values for methanolic leaf extract were lower than for the fruit extract. The Pd(apox) complex alone had a weak antiproliferative effect, but combination with L. vulgare extracts caused stronger effects with lower IC50 values than with L. vulgare extracts alone. The type of cell death was explored by fluorescence microscopy using the acridin orange/ethidium bromide method. Treatments with plant extracts caused typical apoptotic morphological changes in HCT-116 cells and co-treatments with Pd(apox) complex caused higher levels of apoptotic cells than treatment with plant extracts alone. The results indicate that L. vulgare is a considerable source of natural bioactive substances with antiproliferative activity on HCT-116 cells and which have a substantial synergistic effect with the Pd(apox) complex

Novel insight on the impact of enzymatic addition on organic loading rate in anaerobic digestion

Addition of enzymes to anaerobic digesters (ADs) has been reported as beneficial to the hydrolytic step of the process. Additional benefits have been described for bioadded reactors such as improved dewatering and lower energy requirements. This work aimed to assess the long-term and unaccounted effects of enzymatic addition on sludge digestion. Enzymes’ impacts were tested using different addition modes (bulk or gradual addition) and during operational changes on reactors operated for 295 days. Enzyme added in bulk, generated a 14% increase in biogas production (144 ml/gVSadded) compared to control (126 ml/gVSadded), whereas the same amount of enzyme added gradually produced a 10% increase (139 ml/gVSadded). These values however, where higher when the OLR was increase from 3 to 5.5 kg VS/(m3 day): 257, 212 and 149 ml/gVSadded for the enzyme added in bulk, the enzyme added gradually and the control respectively. Specific biogas yields (SBY), higher in bioadded reactors, were significantly different between control reactors and those reactors dosed in bulk. Furthermore, following OLR increase, the mode of enzyme addition resulted in different increases in gas production rate (GPR) when the enzyme was added in one dose compared to control and to a gradual addition, 121%, 32% and 93% respectively. These results offer a new hypothesis on the impact of bioadditions to AD during changing operational conditions, suggesting a potential stabilising effect of the enzymes in continuous systems

Synthesis and Anticancer Activity of Novel 9-<i>O</i>-Substituted Berberine Derivatives

Berberine is a bioactive isoquinoline alkaloid derived from many plants. Although berberine has been shown to inhibit growth and induce apoptosis of several tumor cell lines, its poor absorption and moderate activity hamper its full therapeutic potential. Here, we describe the synthesis of a series of 9-O-substituted berberine derivatives with improved antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities. An analysis of novel berberine derivatives by EPR spectroscopy confirmed their similar photosensitivity and analogous behavior upon UVA irradiation as berberine, supporting their potential to generate ROS. Improved antitumor activity of novel berberine derivatives was revealed by MTT assay, by flow cytometry and by detection of apoptotic DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 activation, respectively. We showed that novel berberine derivatives are potent inhibitors of growth of HeLa and HL-60 tumor cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 0.7 to 16.7 &#181;M for HL-60 cells and 36 to &gt;200 &#181;M for HeLa cells after 48 h treatment. Further cell cycle analysis showed that the observed inhibition of growth of HL-60 cells treated with berberine derivatives was due to arresting these cells in the G2/M and S phases. Most strikingly, we found that berberine derivative 3 (9-(3-bromopropoxy)-10-methoxy-5,6-dihydro-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]isoquino[3,2-a] isoquinolin-7-ylium bromide) possesses 30-fold superior antiproliferative activity with an IC50 value of 0.7 &#181;M and 6-fold higher apoptosis-inducing activity in HL-60 leukemia cells compared to berberine. Therefore, further studies are merited of the antitumor activity in leukemia cells of this berberine derivative