Urtė Morkūnaitė

Ms. Urtė Morkūnaitė

Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

7Years (2020-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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23 December 2020 in Foods
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
VŽVaidotas Žvikas
Vaidotas Žvikas
Ieva UrbanavičiūtėIeva Urbanavičiūtė
Ieva Urbanavičiūtė
RBRasa Bernotienė
Rasa Bernotienė
DKDeimante Kulakauskiene
Deimante Kulakauskiene
UMUrtė Morkūnaitė
Urtė Morkūnaitė
Valdas JakstasValdas Jakstas
Valdas Jakstas
Glioblastoma multiforme is an aggressive and invasive disease with no efficient therapy available, and there is a great need for finding alternative treatment strategies. This study aimed to investigate anticancer activity of the extracts of the Japanese quince (JQ) cultivars ‘Darius’, ‘Rondo’, and ‘Rasa’ leaf extracts on glioblastoma C6 and HROG36 cells. As identified by ultra high performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, the extracts contained three prevailing groups of phenols: hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives; flavan-3-ols; and flavonols. Sixteen phenols were detected; the predominant compound was chlorogenic acid. The sum of detected phenols varied significantly between the cultivars ranging from 9322 µg/g (‘Rondo’) to 17,048 µg/g DW (‘Darius’). Incubation with the extracts decreased the viability of glioblastoma HROG36 cells with an efficiency similar to temozolomide, a drug used for glioblastoma treatment. In the case of C6 glioblastoma cells, the extracts were even more efficient than temozolomide. Interestingly, primary cerebellar neuronal-glial cells were significantly less sensitive to the extracts compared to the cancer cell lines. The results showed that JQ leaf ethanol extracts are rich in phenolic compounds, can efficiently reduce glioblastoma cell viability while preserving non-cancerous cells, and are worth further investigations as potential anticancer drugs.