European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2011-10-01

Synthesis and characterization of novel PUFA esters exhibiting potential anticancer activities: an in vitro study.

Azmat Ali Khan, Mahboob Alam, Saba Tufail, Jamal Mustafa, Mohammad Owais

Index: Eur. J. Med. Chem. 46 , 4878-86, (2011)

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Abstract

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been reported to play a regulatory role in tumour growth progression. In the present study, we have synthesized ester derivatives of two important PUFA viz., linoleic acid (LA) and arachidonic acid (AA) with propofol, a widely used general anaesthetic-sedative agent. The novel propofol ester analogues have been found to inhibit various cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the compounds have been found to induce apoptotic cell death by enhancing the release of cytochrome c and expression of caspase-3. The data of the present study suggest that novel propofol-PUFA esters have strong potential to emerge as effective anticancer agents.Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.