Production of an antiproliferative furanoheliangolide by Lychnophora ericoides cell culture.

This work reports for the first time the production a furanoheliangolide (goyazensolide) by plant cell culture. Monitoring of the goyazensolide metabolism revealed that the maximum production occurred during the lag phase of the Lychnophora ericoides callus culture. The antiproliferative activity of obtained goyazensolide was evaluated against seven cancer cell lines using MTT assay. The results revealed a potent cytotoxic activity for the furaheliangolide with IC50 values in the range of 0.06 microg/ml for CEM leukemia cells to 0.75 microg/ml for B16 melanome cells.