Chemosensitizing activities of cyclotides from Clitoria ternatea in paclitaxel-resistant lung cancer cells

Cyclotides comprise a family of circular mini-peptides that have been isolated from various plants and have a wide range of bioactivities. Previous studies have demonstrated that cyclotides have antitumor effects and cause cell death by membrane permeabilization. The present study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity and chemosensitizing activities of cyclotides from Clitoria ternatea in paclitaxel-resistant lung cancer cells. In this study, a total of seven cyclotides were selected for colorimetric cell viability assay (MTT assay) to evaluate their anticancer and chemosensitizing activities in the lung cancer cell line A549 and its sub-line A549/paclitaxel. Results suggested that certain cyclotides had significant anticancer and chemosensitizing abilities; such cyclotides were capable of causing multi-fold decreases in the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) value of cliotides in the presence of paclitaxel. More importantly, their bioactivities were found to be correlated with their net charge status. In conclusion, cyclotides from C. ternatea have potential in chemosensitization application.