Date of Submission
Spring 2016
Academic Programs and Concentrations
Biology
Project Advisor 1
Emily McLaughlin
Project Advisor 2
Michael Tibbetts
Abstract/Artist's Statement
Abstract
The development of novel cancer therapeutics is consistently at the forefront of scientific research and technology. This project aims to investigate deoxyviolacein, a biologically active natural product, which has high potential to combat metastatic disease. Deoxyviolacein is a bisindole alkaloid originally derived from Chromobacteria and has also been produced synthetically in high yields and purity. Synthetic deoxyviolacein was tested at a range of drug concentrations on HeLa and A549 cancer cell lines to establish thresholds of cytotoxicity. Additionally, cell motility was assessed in HeLa and A549 cells using a scratch motility assay at the same range of drug concentrations. Cell death was observed at 24 hours in the presence of 100 mM – 100 nM deoxyviolacein drug concentrations. At lower deoxyviolacein drug concentrations 10 nM – 10 pM, cell death did not occur, however no significant change in cell motility was observed. Deoxyviolacein does not have an effect on metastatic behavior in HeLa and A549 cell lines, but has potential to be effective in reducing primary tumor growth. Deoxyviolacein should be further tested to elucidate the threshold of cell viability and activation of metabolic pathways associated with programmed cell death mechanisms in the presence of deoxyviolacein.
Access Agreement
On-Campus only
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hwee, Madeline Anne, "Cytotoxicity of the Biologically Active Molecule Deoxyviolacein in Cancer Metastasis" (2016). Senior Projects Spring 2016. 76.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2016/76
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