Ricerc@Sapienza

We have investigated the ability of ?-caryophyllene oxide (CRYO), a naturally occurring sesquiterpene component of many essential oils, to inhibit, at non-
toxic doses, ABC pumps and improve the response of HCC cells to sorafenib. CRYO was able to induce chemosensitization of liver cancer cells to sorafenib by favoring its intracellular accumulation.

The natural sesquiterpenes ?-caryophyllene (CRY) and ?-caryophyllene oxide (CRYO) were evaluated for their potential chemosensitizing properties.
CRY and CRYO cytotoxicity was tested against the Caco-2, CCRF/CEM and CEM/ADR5000 human cancer cell lines. Furthermore, combination experiments were carried out in order to study the ability of the sesquiterpenes to increase doxorubicin cytotoxicity. The possible interference of CRY and CRYO with functionality of ATP-binding cassette (ABC)-transporters was also investigated by Rhodamine123 efflux assay.