Antiproliferative Activity of seco-Oxacassanes from Acacia schaffneri

This work reports the antiproliferative activity of seco-oxacassanes 1-3, isolated from Acacia schaffneri, against human colon (HT-29), lung (A-549), and melanoma (UACC-62) cancer cell lines, as well as against their non-malignant counterparts CCD-841 CoN, MRC-5, and VH-10, respectively, using the sulforhodamine B test. While compounds 1 and 3 were inactive, 2 presented strong activity with IC50 values between 0.12 and 0.92 μg mL(-1). The cytotoxicity mechanisms of 2 were investigated by cell cycle analysis and through DNA repair pathways, indicating that the compound is capable of arresting the cell cycle in the G0/G1 phase. This effect might be generated through damage to DNA by alkylation. In addition, compound 2 was able to decrease HT-29 migration.