The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is a preclinical model widely used for vascular and anti-vascular effects of therapeutic agents in vivo. In this study, we examine the suitability of CAM as a predictive model for acute toxicology studies of drugs by comparing it to conventional mouse and rat models for 10 FDA-approved anticancer drugs (paclitaxel, carmustine, camptothecin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, cisplatin, aloin, mitomycin C, actinomycin-D, melphalan). Suitable formulations for intravenous administration were determined before the average of median lethal dose (LD50) and median survival dose (SD(50)) in the CAM were measured and calculated for these drugs. The resultant ideal LD(50) values were correlated to those reported in the literature using Pearson's correlation test for both intravenous and intraperitoneal routes of injection in rodents. Our results showed moderate correlations (r(2)=0.42 - 0.68, P<0.005-0.05) between the ideal LD(50) values obtained using the CAM model with LD(50) values from mice and rats models for both intravenous and intraperitoneal administrations, suggesting that the chick embryo may be a suitable alternative model for acute drug toxicity screening before embarking on full toxicological investigations in rodents in development of anticancer drugs.
In the present study we investigated the effects of panduratin A, isolated from Boesenbergia rotunda, on proliferation and apoptosis in A549 human non-small cell lung cancer cells. Cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis was determined by the real-time cellular analyzer (RTCA), MTT assay and High Content Screening (HCS). The RTCA assay indicated that panduratin A exhibited cytotoxicity, with an IC₅₀ value of 4.4 µg/mL (10.8 µM). Panduratin A arrested cancer cells labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and phospho-Histone H3 in the mitotic phase. The cytotoxic effects of panduratin A were found to be accompanied by a dose-dependent induction of apoptosis, as assessed by DNA condensation, nuclear morphology and intensity, cell permeability, mitochondrial mass/ potential, F-actin and cytochrome c. In addition, treatment with an apoptosis-inducing concentration of panduratin A resulted in significant inhibition of Nuclear Factor-kappa Beta (NF-κB) translocation from cytoplasm to nuclei activated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), as illustrated by the HCS assay. Our study provides evidence for cell growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis by panduratin A in the A549 cell line, suggesting its therapeutic potential as an NF-κB inhibitor.
This study aims to improve the photodynamic properties and biological effectiveness of 15(1)-hydroxypurpurin-7-lactone dimethyl ester (G2), a semisynthetic photosensitizer, for the PDT treatment of cancer. The strategy we undertook was by conjugating G2 with aspartic acid and lysine amino acid moieties. The photophysical properties, singlet oxygen generation, distribution coefficiency (Log D in octanol/PBS pH 7.4), and photostability of these analogues and their in vitro bioactivities such as cellular uptake, intracellular localization, and photoinduced cytotoxicity were evaluated. In addition, selected analogues were also investigated for their PDT-induced vasculature occlusion in the chick chorioallantoic membrane model and for their antitumor efficacies in Balb/C mice bearing 4T1 mouse mammary tumor. From the study, conjugation with aspartic acid improved the aqueous solubility of G2 without affecting its photophysical characteristics. G2-Asp showed similar in vitro and in vivo antitumor efficacies compared to the parent compound. Given the hydrophilic nature of G2-Asp, the photosensitizer is a pharmaceutically advantageous candidate as it can be formulated easily for systemic administration and has reduced risk of aggregation in vascular system.