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Violacein cytotoxicity and induction of apoptosis in V79 cells

  • Cell Growth/Differentiation/Apoptosis
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Summary

Violacein, a pigment produced by Chromobacterium violaceum, is reported to be a potential drug for the treatment of Chagas' disease. Violacein is also effective against leukemia and lymphoma cells in culture (IC50 10−8 M). Changes in the nuclear acid content, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-biphenyl tetrazolium bromide reduction and neutral red uptake in these cells were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of violacein in V79 Chinese hamster (M-8) fibroblasts. Violacein was highly cytotoxic to V79 fibroblasts (IC50 5–12 μM). Using the TUNEL method and the Feulgen reaction coupled to image analysis, violacein (5 and 10 μM) was found to trigger apoptosis but not necrosis in V79 cells. The morphological changes seen in the nuclei of these cells included chromatin condensation and a decrease in deoxyribonucleic acid content. These results demonstrating that violacein induces apoptosis in V79 cells strengthen its potential as a therapeutic agent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, CP 6109, Campinas, 13084-970, São Paulo, SP, Brasil

    Patricia da Silva Melo, Silvya Stuchi Maria & Marcela Haun

  2. Departamento de Biologia Celular, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, CP 6109, Campinas, 13084-970, São Paulo, SP, Brasil

    Benedicto de Campos Vidal

  3. Laboratório de Química Biológica, Instituto de Química, UNICAMP, CP 6154, Campinas, 13081-970, São Paulo, SP, Brasil

    Nelson Durán

Authors
  1. Patricia da Silva Melo
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  2. Silvya Stuchi Maria
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  3. Benedicto de Campos Vidal
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  4. Marcela Haun
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  5. Nelson Durán
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Correspondence to Nelson Durán.

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da Silva Melo, P., Maria, S.S., Vidal, B.d.C. et al. Violacein cytotoxicity and induction of apoptosis in V79 cells. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Animal 36, 539–543 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1290/1071-2690(2000)036<0539:VCAIOA>2.0.CO;2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1290/1071-2690(2000)036<0539:VCAIOA>2.0.CO;2

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