Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology
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Comparative Study
The variable chemotherapeutic response of Malabaricone-A in leukemic and solid tumor cell lines depends on the degree of redox imbalance.
The 'two-faced' character of reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays an important role in cancer biology by acting as secondary messengers in intracellular signaling cascades, enhancing cell proliferation and survival, thereby sustaining the oncogenic phenotype. Conversely, enhanced generation of ROS can trigger an oxidative assault leading to a redox imbalance translating into an apoptotic cell death. Intrinsically, cancer cells have higher basal levels of ROS which if supplemented by additional oxidative insult by pro-oxidants can be cytotoxic, an example being Malabaricone-A (MAL-A). MAL-A is a plant derived diarylnonanoid, purified from fruit rind of the plant Myristica malabarica whose anti-cancer activity has been demonstrated in leukemic cell lines, the modality of cell death being apoptosis. This study aimed to compare the degree of effectiveness of MAL-A in leukemic vs. solid tumor cell lines. ⋯ Taken together, MAL-A a pro-oxidant compound is likely to be more effective in leukemias, meriting further pharmacological consideration.