Cancer cell growth suppressibility of ω-3 fatty acid whose carboxy group converted to ester group.

Recently, ω-3 fatty acids have been revealed to having cancer cell growth suppressibility. It is necessary to analyze the mechanism of cancer cell growth suppressibility and to impart selective cancer cell accumulation when creating anticancer drugs based on ω-3 fatty acids. Therefore, it is necessarily essential to introduce a luminescent molecule or a molecule which have a drug delivery function into ω-3 fatty acids, and the position of introduction is the ω-3 fatty acids' carboxyl group. On the other hand, whether the ω-3 fatty acids' cancer cell growth suppressibility is maintained when the ω-3 fatty acids' carboxyl groups are converted to other structures, such as ester groups, is unclear. In this work, a derivative was synthesized wherein the α-linolenic acid carboxyl group, one of the ω-3 fatty acids, was converted to an ester group and evaluated the cancer cell growth suppressibility, as well as the amount of cancer cell uptake. As a result, it was suggested that the ester group derivatives presented the same functionality as α-linolenic acid, and the ω-3 fatty acid carboxyl group is a flexible functional group, which can be structurally modified in terms of functionality to cancer cells.

Evaluation of Cancer Cell Growth Suppressibility of ω-3 Fatty Acids and Their Metabolites.

According to current research, cancer cell growth is suppressed by ω-3 fatty acids, which are essential fatty acids. On the other hand, ω-3 fatty acids are metabolized to bioactivities in vivo. A systematic evaluation of the ability of ω-3 fatty acids and their metabolites to suppress cancer cell growth has not been sufficiently conducted. Our work evaluated the effect of ω-3 fatty acids (docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid), trans fatty acid, and the metabolites (Resolvin E1, Maresin 1) on cancer cell growth suppressibility. Our results suggest that there may be optimal fatty acids depending on the kind of cancer cells, the presence or absence of hydroxyl group, and the double bond structure involved.