Anticancer activity of phenolic acids of natural or synthetic origin: a structure-activity study.
Several phenolic acids-caffeic and gallic acid derivatives-were synthesized and screened for their potential antiproliferative and cytotoxic properties, in different human cancer cell lines: mammary gland and cervix adenocarcinomas and lymphoblastic leukemia. The selected phenols were structurally related, which allowed us to gather important information regarding the structure-activity relationships underlying the biological activity of such compounds. This is proposed to be due to a balance between the antioxidant and pro-oxidant properties of this kind of agent. Distinct effects were found for different cell lines, which points to a significant specificity of action of the drugs tested. It was verified, for the types of cancer investigated, that the trihydroxylated derivatives yielded better results than the dihydroxylated ones. Tests in noncancerous cells, human lung fibroblasts, were also undertaken, in view of determining the toxic side effects of the compounds studied.
Gomes
Catarina A
CA
Research Unit "Molecular Physical-Chemistry", Biochemistry Department, and Centre for Neuroscience and Cellular Biology, University Coimbra, 3001-401 Coimbra, Portugal.
da Cruz
Teresa Girão
TG
Andrade
José L
JL
Milhazes
Nuno
N
Borges
Fernanda
F
Marques
M Paula M
MP
D000230:Adenocarcinoma; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms; D002109:Caffeic Acids / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005260:Female; D005707:Gallic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D010636:Phenols / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002109:Caffeic Acids; D010636:Phenols; D005707:Gallic Acid