Brian Allen; Brian Farnsworth; Don Davies; Parker Ferguson, Weber State University
We are investigating better ways to kill cancer cells by applying structure activity relationships to a class of molecules called chalcones. Chalcones are a key component in many biological processes and variants of the chalcone structure have interesting medicinal properties, including antitumor activity. In collaboration with Dr. Davies group, who designs and synthesizes chalcone derivatives, I have been working on testing the efficacy of the compounds to understand their toxicity against different cancer cell lines. Using dose-response viability assays, we can determine the effective concentration of the chalcone that kills 50% of cells (called an LD50). This data is used to understand what parts of the molecule are important in killing cancer cells and what parts of the molecule can be modified to increase cytotoxic activity of the compound. We have tested 11 different compounds and found a wide range in efficacy from low micromolar LD50 to no effect at all. Applying this information, we can design molecules that work more effectively to kill cancer cells at lower doses.