Investigation of toxicity effect of 4-MePgC and 4-No2pgC two derivatives dihydropyrano [2,3-g] chromene on the K562 cell line (chronic myeloid leukaemia)

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a malignant blood disease with a particular chromosomal aberration and it is known as a common form of leukemia. Chromene family exhibit strong anti-cancer effects. Therefore, in this study, the effect of two derivatives of dihydro-pyrano [2, 3-g] chromene family is investigated on cell toxicity and apoptosis induction in K562 cancer cells and compared them with Peripheral Blood Mononuclear (PBMC) normal cells. The K562 cell line was cultured in the presence of the mentioned chromene derivatives at a concentration of 40-200µM for 24-72 hours. The effect of these compounds on growth and viability of K562 cell line and PBMC cells were studied via MTT assay and apoptosis induction was investigated by flow cytometry. The results showed that these chromene derivatives inhibit K562 cell line growth. Moreover, increasing the chromene concentration and the time of exposure to it increase the cell toxicity. Among these compounds, 4-No2pgC was known as a compound with high toxicity (IC50=129±2.75) and 4-MePgC recognized as a compound with low toxicity (IC50=214±3.42) after 72 hours exposure to the K562 cell line. Furthermore, the results of flow cytometry demonstrated the effect of apoptosis induction of these compounds on the K562 cell line. According to the obtained results from this research, chromene derivatives can induce apoptosis in the K562 cell line and these compounds have a less toxic effect on normal cells than cancer cells. In conclusion, these derivatives can be considered as a proper candidate for the treatment of leukemia.