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Updated: Sep 27, 2026

Modeling Chemotherapy Resistant Leukemia In Vitro
Published on: February 9, 2016
Pentacyclic triterpenes from Chrysobalanaceae species: cytotoxicity on multidrug resistant and sensitive leukemia
Janaina Fernandes1, Rachel Oliveira Castilho, Mariana Rangel da Costa
1Instituto de BiofIsica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Cidade Universitária, CEP, Ilha do Fundão 21949-900, R.J., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Abstract:
Plants are known as important source in the search for new anti-cancer agents. Cytotoxicity-guided fractionation of leaves and fruits from Licania tomentosa Bench and leaves from Chrysobalanus icaco L. resulted in the isolation of betulinic, oleanolic and pomolic acids. These triterpenoids inhibited the growth and induced apoptosis of K562, an erythroleukemia cell line. Most importantly, they also inhibited the proliferation of Lucena 1, a vincristine-resistant derivative of K562 that displays several multidrug resistance (MDR) characteristics. Taken together, our findings emphasize the anti-tumor activity of these triterpenes on leukemia cell lines and call attention to their potential as anti MDR agents.
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