Cytotoxic and Proapoptotic Activity of Sanguinarine, Berberine, and Extracts of L. and DC. toward Hematopoietic Cancer Cell Lines.

Isoquinoline alkaloids belong to the toxic secondary metabolites occurring in plants of many families. The high biological activity makes these compounds promising agents for use in medicine, particularly as anticancer drugs. The aim of our study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and proapoptotic activity of sanguinarine, berberine, and extracts of L. and DC. IC10, IC50, and IC90 doses were established toward hematopoietic cancer cell lines using trypan blue staining. Alterations in the expression of 18 apoptosis-related genes in cells exposed to IC10, IC50, and IC90 were evaluated using real-time PCR. Sanguinarine and L. extract exhibit significant cytotoxicity against all studied cell lines. Lower cytotoxic activity was demonstrated for berberine. DC. extract had no influence on cell viability. Berberine, sanguinarine, and L. extract altered the expression of apoptosis-related genes in all tested cell lines, indicating the induction of apoptosis. The presented study confirmed the substantial cytotoxicity and proapoptotic activity of sanguinarine, berberine, and L. extract toward the studied hematopoietic cell lines, which indicates the utility of these substances in anticancer therapy.