Effects of DNA polymerase inhibitory and antitumor activities of lipase-hydrolyzed glycolipid fractions from spinach

• Published in: The Journal of nutritional biochemistry 2005-02, Vol.16 (2), p.121-128
• Main Authors: Maeda, Naoki, Hada, Takahiko, Murakami-Nakai, Chikako, Kuriyama, Isoko, Ichikawa, Hideki, Fukumori, Yoshinobu, Hiratsuka, Junichi, Yoshida, Hiromi, Sakaguchi, Kengo, Mizushina, Yoshiyuki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; anticarcinogenic activity; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antitumor effect; apoptosis; Biological and medical sciences; cell culture; cell cycle; Cell Division - drug effects; cell growth; chemical composition; chemical structure; Cricetinae; Cytotoxicity; DNA polymerase; DNA-directed DNA polymerase; enzymatic hydrolysis; Enzyme inhibitor; enzyme inhibitors; Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Galactolipids - pharmacology; Glycolipids; Glycolipids - metabolism; Glycolipids - pharmacology; Humans; Hydrolysis; Lipase - metabolism; Melanoma - drug therapy; Melanoma - pathology; Neoplasm Transplantation; Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors; Spinach; Spinacia oleracea - chemistry; Stomach Neoplasms - pathology; triacylglycerol lipase; Tumor Cells, Cultured; vegetable extracts; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; viability
• ISSN: 0955-2863; 1873-4847
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2004.08.005

We succeeded in purifying the major glycolipid fraction in the class of sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol, monogalactosyl diacylglycerol and digalactosyl diacylglycerol (DGDG) from a green vegetable, spinach ( Spinacia oleracea L.). This glycolipid fraction was an inhibitor of DNA polymerases and a growth inhibitor of NUGC-3 human gastric cancer cells, and, interestingly, the activities were much stronger when the fraction was hydrolyzed by lipase. Glycolipids in the hydrolyzed fraction consisted of sulfoquinovosyl monoacylglycerol (SQMG), monogalactosyl monoacylglycerol (MGMG) and DGDG. In the in vivo antitumor assay using Greene's melanoma, the fraction containing SQMG, MGMG and DGDG showed to be a promising suppressor of solid tumors. Spinach glycolipid fraction might be a potent antitumor compound if directly injected into a tumor-carrying body, and this fraction may be a healthy food material that has antitumor activity.