A rapid primary screening method for antitumor using the oomycete Pythium aphanidermatum.

Investigating bioactive components from microbial metabolites can provide potential source for drug discovery. There are a number of traditional antitumor compounds screening assays already described. In this study, we have developed an efficient method to search for antitumor compounds using the Oomycete Pythium aphanidermatum as model on agar plates for high throughtput screening. Antioomycete compounds showed cytotoxic effects in human cancer cells lines due to the possible similarity between the lipid cell membrane of the Pythium species and cancerous cells, suggesting the compounds act through similar mechanisms of inhibition. In this assay, i t is possible to evaluate hundreds of samples, with results in few hours. The Pythium assay was shown to be sensitive for several chemical substances and allowed the detection and isolation of antitumor compounds from microorganisms. This bioassay was shown to be sensitive, rapid, simple and reliable for antitumor activity. It takes just few hours to evaluate the properties of the extracts.