Pleiotropic effects of spongean alkaloids on mechanisms of cell death, cell cycle progression and DNA damage response (DDR) of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells.

We investigated cytotoxic mechanisms evoked by the spongean alkaloids aaptamine (Aa) and aeroplysinin-1 (Ap), applied alone and in combination with daunorubicin, employing acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. Aa and Ap reduced the viability of AML cells in a dose dependent manner with IC50 of 10-20 µM. Ap triggered apoptotic cell death more efficiently than Aa.