Previous studies have shown that the alpha anomer of 1-O-hexadecyl-2-O-methyl-3-S-(D-1'-thioglucopyranosyl-sn-glycerol) inhibits the proliferation of leukaemic cell lines while the beta anomer was without any effect. In the present study both the alpha and beta anomers inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7, A427, A549 and T84 cells in a dose dependent manner. These results suggest that the mechanism of action of the ether thioglycolipids in epithelial and leukemic cells may be different. Our studies also revealed that A549, which was the most resilient of the four cell lines to the inhibitory effects of 1-O-alkyl-2-O-methyl-glycerophosphocholine (ET18-OCH3), was the most susceptible to the effects of the ether thioglycolipids. Hence the mechanisms of action of the thioglycolipids appear to be distinct from those of ET18-OCH3. The above ether-linked thioglycolipids may therefore be prototypes of a new class of antitumour ether lipids.

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