Cytotoxic activity of Isatis campylocarpa, an Iranian endemic plant, on human cancer cell lines

The antineoplastic activities of alcoholic and aqueous extracts of the roots, stems and leaves of Isatis campylocarpa an endemic species of the Brassicaceae family from Iran, investigated on the growth of Jurkat as an acute lymphocytic leukemia cell line, K562 as a chronic myelogenous leukemia cell line and Fen as a bladder cancer cell line using colorimetric assay. Results showed that 1 to 200 μg/ml concentrations of all the extracts inhibited the proliferation of the cells and may be it relate to the Indirubin compounds. The maximum effect on the Jurkat cells observed for the aqueous root extract. The effect of the extracts on the Jurkat cells was greater than on the K562 cells, which may be indicate more sensitivity to lymphocytic cells than myeloid ones.