Simple bench-top bioassays (brine shrimp and potato discs) for the discovery of plant antitumor compounds: review of recent progress
1993
McLaughlin, J.L. | Chang, C. | Smith, D.L.
Advances in separation technology and spectral methodology have greatly simplified the science of phytochemistry. New challenges lie in the isolation of nature's trace phytochemicals which exert various bioactivities and, thus, present potential usefulness to mankind. To help meet these challenges in discovering novel plant antitumor compounds, we have developed two simple bench-top bioassays which conveniently expedite screening and activity-directed fractionation of active plant extracts. These are lethality to brine shrimp and the inhibition of crown gall tumors on discs of potato tubers. Progress in this laboratory over the past three years is reviewed here. Our most exciting leads are the Annonaceous acetogenins of which bullatacin offers the best potential for antitumor drug development: the potent pesticidal effects of these new agents, which act via mitochondrial inhibition, also offer economic potential.
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