• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.490-496
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• 1996

Naphtodianthrone hypericin produced a potent antitumor activity in vitro against several tumor cells. However, it did not show any cytotoxicity on normal cells such as Macaccus rheus monkey kidney cells (MA-104) and primary cultured rat hepatocytes up to $500{\mu}M$ concentration. Hypericin added to A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cell membrane inhibited the autophosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor and the tyrosine phosphorylation of RR-SRC peptide catalyzed by an EGF-receptor. Similarly, treatment of the A431 cells with hypericin inhibited the tyrosine phosphorylation of EGF-dependent endogenous EGF-receptor by western blotting analysis. Hypericin also inhibited the T cell PTK, $P56^{lck}$, in a dose-dependent fashion with an $IC_{50}=5{\mu}M$. The tyrosine phosphorylation, on RR-SRC peptide and EGF-induced receptor autophosphorylation, either in vitro or in intact cells was inhibited by hypericin at the same concentration as that in A431 cell proliferation. These data suggest that hypericin directly inhibits EGF-receptor and $P56^{lck}$ PTK activity in vitro and can mediate such action in vivo.