Potential cytotoxic of extracts Maytenus sp. front of tumor strain MCF7 (breast cancer)

The species of the genus Maytenus produce triterpenes quinonametideos. Generally, this class of metabolites has activity against ovarian, prostate and lung tumors. The objective of this study is to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of extracts rich in triterpenes quinonametideos from callus culture of M. ilicifolia and M. aquifolium characterized phenotypically against breast carcinoma cell lines (MCF7) and normal fibroblast cells (3T3). The cells were cultivated at 37^oC in a humid atmosphere containing 5% CO₂ and DMEM culture medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. The cells were distributed into 96-well plates (5×10³ cells/well) 24 hours before the assay. Next, the cells were incubated for 48 hours at different sample concentrations, that is, ranging from 100 to 4ug/mL and 1% DMSO (solvent control used for dilution). The cytotoxicity was evaluated by using the MTT colourimetric method. Doxorubicin was used as positive control. The results have revealed that the strain known as Maytenus qquifolium 1, showed a better cytotoxic activity (IC50 20ug. mL^-1) than the other vegetal cell (IC50 100ug.mL^-1) also compared their cytotoxic activity against 3T3 normal strain, the same extract was less cytotoxic than doxorubicin positive control.