In vitro screening of crude extracts and pure metabolites obtained from marine invertebrates for the treatment of breast cancer

Fifteen samples of crude extracts and pure metabolites obtained from marine invertebrates collected from the offshore waters of British Columbia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka had previously been shown to exert cytotoxic activity in the in vitro L1210 leukemic bioassay. For this thesis, these samples were screened for in vitro cytotoxic activity against the drug-sensitive breast tumor cell lines MCF-7, T-47D, ZR-75-1 and MDA-MB-231; the multidrug-resistant and P-glycoprotein (Pgp)-positive breast tumorcell lines MCF-7 Adr and MDA-A1r; and normal and malignant human breast epithelial cells (HBEC) in primary culture. Eight samples exhibited significant [drug concentration resulting in a 50% decrease in cell growth as compared withcontrols (ED50), < 25 gg/ml] dose-dependent cytotoxicity against the drug-sensitive cell lines; the ED50 values wereas low as 0.004 gg/ml. Five of the 8 samples exhibited significant cytotoxicity against the multidrug-resistant cell lines; the ED50 values were as low as 0.0006 pg/ml. Incubation of the MCF-7 Adr cells with varying concentrations of compounds in the presence of Adriamycin demonstrated that none of the compounds tested appeared to interfere with Pgp function. Results obtained using HBEC in primary culture showed a wide range of chemosensitivities for a given drug against tissue taken from different patients, demonstrating the uniqueness of the response of different individuals to chemotherapy.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science - MSc

Level thesis:degree_level

master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology

Grantor dc:publisher

University of British Columbia

Year dc:date

1992

Author dc:creator

• Stingl, John

Statement dc:rights

• For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/2559

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/2559