Iranian Scientists Produce Anti-Cancer Drug from ‘Chinese Lantern’ Plant
“The Chinese Lantern is an annual or perennial plant that grows in temperate regions of the world. This plant has anti-cancer and anti-diabetic therapeutic properties and has received much attention today,” said Halimeh Hassanpour, a PhD in Plant Biology-Physiology and an associate professor of the Aerospace Physiology Department of the Aerospace Research Institute.
“Given the value of the physalin compound, we sought to regenerate and propagate the plant through tissue and cell culture to protect and sustainably utilize their genetic resources,” she added.
“In this research, the seeds were placed in a culture medium after sterilization, and the resulting seedlings were used for callus induction and cell suspension cultivation. The cells were then exposed to a specific magnetic field intensity and their medicinal metabolite content was stimulated,” Hassanpour said.
She noted that the results of this research, in addition to preserving the genetic resources of Iran’s indigenous and valuable medicinal species, have paved the way for the semi-industrial production of medicinal metabolites in vitro and the development of cell culture technology.
According to the findings of the previous studies, it was reported that leaf extracts of Physalis angulata can be used to produce a prominent range of cytotoxicity effects in ovary cancer and human blood cell lines.
4155/v
