Cytotoxicity and modes of action of four naturally occuring benzophenones: 2,2′,5,6′-Tetrahydroxybenzophenone, guttiferone E, isogarcinol and isoxanthochymol

Abstract Introduction The emergence of drug-resistant cancer cells drastically reduces the efficacy of many antineoplasic agents and, consequently, increases the frequency of therapeutic failure. Benzophenones are known to display many pharmacological properties including cytotoxic activities. The present study was aimed at investigating the cytotoxicity and the modes of action of four naturally occurring benzophenones 2,2′,5,6′-tetrahydroxybenzophenone ( 1 ), isogarcinol ( 2 ), isoxanthochymol ( 3 ) and guttiferone E ( 4 ) on a panel of eleven cancer cell lines including various sensitive and drug-resistant phenotypes. Methods The cytotoxicity of the compounds was determined using a resazu…