Publication at Faculty of Science |
2015
Abstract
The polar and apolar fractions of Curcuma longa and C. zanthorriza enriched by ar-turmerone, ar-curcumene and xanthorrizol were screened for cytotoxic activity against the HeLa cell line. Actinomycin D and curcumin were used as reference samples, both known for their cytotoxic properties.
Amongst all fractions tested, the xanthorrizol fraction (CC(50): 26.1 +/- 1.9 μM) showed the strongest cytotoxic properties similar to those of curcumin (CC(50): 8.1 +/- 1.7 μM). Further studies also revealed that the cytotoxic effects of the extracts and pure compounds are caused by apoptosis induction identified by the cleaved form of PARP protein