Abstract
A study of the components of the fruits of Kigelia pinnata was undertaken to identify compounds with potential growth inhibitory activity against
human melanoma cells, since extracts from the fruits of this plant have been described
in traditional medicine to have application in the treatment of skin cancer and other
skin ailments. A bioactivity-guided fractionation process yielded a number of crude
fractions, which demonstrated cytotoxicity in vitro against human melanoma cells. Compounds isolated and identified included the isocoumarins,
demethylkigelin (1 ) and kigelin (2 ), fatty acids, oleic (3 ) and heneicosanoic acids (4 ), the furonaphthoquinone, 2-(1-hydroxyethyl)-naphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-dione (5 ), and ferulic acid (6 ). A number of structurally related synthetic compounds were also tested using the
MTT assay. The most potent series of these compounds, the furonaphthoquinones, also
demonstrated a cytotoxic effect in two human breast cancer cell lines tested.
Key words
Kigelia pinnata
- Bignoniaceae - MTT assay - melanoma - isocoumarins - furonaphthoquinones
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Dr. Catherine Higgins
Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB) Queens University Belfast
97 Lisburn Rd.
Belfast BT9 7BL
Ireland
Phone: + 44 28 90 97 27 79
Fax: + 44 28 90 97 27 76
Email: c.a.higgins@qub.ac.uk