Abstract
Membrane lipid therapy is a novel approach to rationally design or discover therapeutic molecules that target membrane lipids. This strategy has been used to design synthetic fatty acid analogs that are currently under study in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. In this context, and with the aim of controlling tumor cell growth, we have designed and synthesized a hydroxylated analog of triolein, hydroxytriolein (HTO). Both triolein and HTO regulate the biophysical properties of model membranes, and they inhibit the growth of non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines in vitro. The molecular mechanism underlying the antiproliferative effect of HTO involves regulation of the lipid membrane structure, protein kinase C-α and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation, the production of reactive oxygen species, and autophagy. In vivo studies on a mouse model of NSCLC showed that HTO, but not triolein, impairs tumor growth, which could be associated with the relative resistance of HTO to enzymatic degradation. The data presented explain in part why olive oil (whose main component is the triacylglycerol triolein) is preventive but not therapeutic, and they demonstrate a potent effect of HTO against cancer. HTO shows a good safety profile, it can be administered orally, and it does not induce nontumor cell (fibroblast) death in vitro or side effects in mice, reflecting its specificity for cancer cells. For these reasons, HTO is a good candidate as a drug to combat cancer that acts by regulating lipid structure and function in the cancer cell membrane.
Footnotes
- Received December 22, 2014.
- Accepted June 9, 2015.
This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [Grants BIO2010-21132 and BIO2013-49006-C2-1-R]; the Marathon Foundation; and the AECC from the Balearic Islands. F.G.-S. holds a contract from the “Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer” which was paid in part by an “Acció especial” from the Government of the Balearic Islands. M.I. and D.J.L. were supported by Torres-Quevedo Research Contracts from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [PTQ-10-04214 and PTQ-09-02-02113].
↵This article has supplemental material available at jpet.aspetjournals.org.
- Copyright © 2015 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
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