11, 13-Dehydro Lactone Moiety in Gynecologic Cancer Cells

Background: to study the anti-cancer effect of isoalantolactone, a sesquiterpene lactoneisolated from the roots of inula heleniumon human gynecologic cancer cells. methods: a structure-activity relationship experiment was designed to identify the functional moiety of isoalantolactone for its significant anti-cancer activity. five gynecologic cancer cell lines were treated with isoalantolactone. cell proliferation was determined by mtt assay in vitro and cell apoptosis by flow cytometry. results: we found isoalantolactone strongly inhibited the cell proliferationofhec-1, hac-2, hoc-21, and hela cells. its inhibitory effect was comparable to that of well-known chemotherapeutic agents, cisplatin and taxol. furthermore, isoalantolactone induced apoptosis in hela cells via caspase. on the contrary, its 11, 13-dihydro derivatives had much weaker anti-proliferative activities than the parent compound. conclusion: isoalantolactone exhibited strong anti-proliferative activities and apoptosis-inducing effects on gynecologic cancer cells. the 11, 13-dehydro lactone moiety was critical for its anti-proliferative activity.