Biology Project Abstract
AFFECTS OF AN HERBAL DERIVATIVE ON MCF-7 BREAST CANCER CELLS
Presenter:
Cecilia A. Westbrook, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL, 60506; cecilia@imsa.edu
Advisor:
Dr. Donald Dosch, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Biology, Aurora, IL, 60506; 630-907-5943; ddosch@imsa.edu
Abstract:
Most drugs currently prescribed as chemotherapy are derived from natural sources such as plants that were originally used as folk medicine to treat cancer. Therefore, it is fitting to test known folk medicines against cancer in a laboratory setting in an attempt to find new chemotoxic compounds and thus widen the variety of chemotherapeutic drugs currently available. Nor-dihydroguiairetic acid (NDGA), an extract of Larrea tridentata (the common creosote bush), has been shown to cause death and growth inhibition of cultures of breast cancer cells. MCF-7, a breast cancer cell line, was cultured in the presence of NDGA to determine optimal concentration. Initial studies show that cells grown in concentrations above 50µM showed >90% cell death, while cells grown in concentrations below 8µM showed no measurable difference from the control. Cells grown at concentrations between 8 and 50µM demonstrated a percentage of cell death between 0% and 90% corresponding to the molar concentration of NDGA. Further research is being conducted to confirm these results and to confirm NDGA as a plausible chemotherapeutic drug.