Antimicrobial and anticâncer activity of extracts and active principles obtained from vegetal species in the State of São Paulo

• Grant number: 04/07943-9
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2005
• End date: March 31, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - General Pharmacology
• Principal Investigator: João Ernesto de Carvalho
• Grantee: João Ernesto de Carvalho
• Host Institution: Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas, Biológicas e Agrícolas (CPQBA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Paulínia , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas, Biológicas e Agrícolas (CPQBA) is composed of the following Divisions: Agro-technology, Phytochemistry, Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Microbiology, Residues, Biotechnology and Microbial Resources. Due to its multidisciplinary aspect, most of the research projects are developed in an integrated way, involving its various Divisions. Since 1996 CPQBA has worked with antimicrobial and anticancer drug screening program following the same methodology developed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI-USA). The present study intends to evaluate both the anticancer and antimicrobiological activities of extracts, fractions and isolated principles from plants of the Cerrado, as well as of different forest reserves and species cultivated in the CPQBA experimental campus. After harvesting, the grinded plant material will be submitted to the process of extraction by maceration with dichloromethane and subsequently with ethanol (95%). The evaluation of the anticancer activities of each extract (0,25 to 250 ug/ml) will be carried out in nine human cancer cell lines: K562 (leukemia), MCF7 (breast), NCIADR (breast expressing the multi-drug resistance phenotype), NCI460 (lung), UACC62 (melanoma), PC03 (prostate), HT29 (colon), OVCAR (ovary) and 786-0 (kidney). The antimicrobial tests will be performed with B. subtilis, E. coli, S. aureus, S. epidermides, S. faecium, M. luteus, Rhodococcus equi, Salmonella choterasuis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecium, and Candida albicans. The biological activity will direct the isolation of active principles. In addition, the structure elucidation of the active principle will be possible through espectroscopical methods available (RMN1H, RMN1C13, IR, UV, Mass). (AU)