Fingerprint Methods used to Identify known Antineoplastic Agents in Culture Filtrates

Abstract

In the search for novel antineoplastic agents in culture filtrates, several techniques have been used for detection or assay purposes. Some of these methods have involved a microbial or antimetabolite prescreen [7], or tissue culture cytotoxicity assay systems [6], prior to testing of the culture filtrate in animals. In the program that will be discussed here, all fermented beers are screened initially against the L1210 and KB9 cell lines for cytotoxic activity, and the “actives” are refermented in shake-flasks for confirmation of cytotoxicity. The confirmed active leads are then screened by a series of fingerprint methods designed to eliminate most of the more common antitumor agents prior to testing in animals. We have found that the use of this screening technique to eliminate knowns as quickly as possible in the early stages of the program has been very successful; it has increased the efficiency of our overall program. The purpose of this paper is to present some of the details of our “fingerprint” techniques.