Camalexin

BeschreibungCamalexin is an alkaloid released by plants of the Brassicaceae family in response to pathogen infection. In addition to antimicrobial properties and a role in plant defense, camalexin exhibits antiproliferative activity in vitro against various cancer cell lines. Camalexin is active against HeLa, Jurkat, MDA-MB-231, and CEM cancer cell lines (IC50s = 50.0, 46.2, 77.7, and 67.6 μM, respectively), but it is also toxic to primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC; (IC50 = 74.0 μM). Camalexin induces apoptosis in Jurkat cells by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and activating caspase-8 and caspase-9. In human prostate cancer cell lines, camalexin (25 μM) is more active against aggressive lines and increases ROS levels and apoptosis via cathepsin D relocation from lysosomes to the cytosol.

VerwendenCamalexin has been used in quantification and tolerance assays in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves.