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In vivo growth inhibition of sarcoma 180 by latex proteins from Calotropis procera

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Abstract

Latex of Calotropis procera has been described as a relevant source of pharmacologically active proteins, including proteins with anticancer activity. A previous in vitro study of laticifer proteins (LP) from C. procera reported that they had selective cytotoxic effects on human cancer cell lines. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of LP in vivo using mice transplanted with sarcoma 180. Biochemical, hematological, histopathological, and morphological analyses were performed in animals given LP by oral or intraperitoneal routes. LP significantly reduced tumor growth (51.83%) and augmented the survival time of animals for up to 4 days. Tumor growth inhibitory activity was lost when LP fraction was submitted to proteolysis, acidic treatment, or pretreated with iodoacetamide. However, LP retained its inhibitory activities on sarcoma 180 growth after heat treatment. Thus, it seems that heat-stable proteins are involved in tumor suppression. Biochemical parameters, such as the enzymatic activity of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase and urea content in serum were not affected in treated mice. It is worth noting that LP completely eliminated the 5-FU-induced depletion of leukocytes in mice even when given orally. The active proteins were recovered in a single fraction by ion exchange chromatography and still exhibited anticancer activity. This study confirms the pharmacological potential of proteins from the latex of C. procera to control sarcoma cell proliferation.

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Acknowledgments

Biochemical, functional, and applied studies of the latex from Calotropis procera have been supported by grants from FUNCAP and CNPq (Universal, RENORBIO and Brazil/India cooperation). MVR and LVCL are grantees from the International Foundation for Science (IFS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, Caixa Postal 6033, 60.451-970, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Jefferson S. Oliveira & Márcio V. Ramos

  2. Departamento de Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Caixa Postal 3157, 60430-270, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Letícia V. Costa-Lotufo, Nylane M. N. Alencar, José Delano B. Marinho-Filho, Ingrid Samantha T. Figueiredo, Manoel O. Moraes & Claudia Pessoa

  3. Departamento de Fisiologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Sergipe, Brazil

    Daniel P. Bezerra

  4. Departamento de Clínica Odontológica, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Ana Paula N. N. Alves

Authors
  1. Jefferson S. Oliveira
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  2. Letícia V. Costa-Lotufo
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  3. Daniel P. Bezerra
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  4. Nylane M. N. Alencar
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  5. José Delano B. Marinho-Filho
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  6. Ingrid Samantha T. Figueiredo
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  7. Manoel O. Moraes
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  8. Claudia Pessoa
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  9. Ana Paula N. N. Alves
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  10. Márcio V. Ramos
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Letícia V. Costa-Lotufo or Márcio V. Ramos.

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Oliveira, J.S., Costa-Lotufo, L.V., Bezerra, D.P. et al. In vivo growth inhibition of sarcoma 180 by latex proteins from Calotropis procera . Naunyn-Schmied Arch Pharmacol 382, 139–149 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-010-0525-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-010-0525-6

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