Cytotoxic, antiangiogenic and antitelomerase activity of glucosyl- and acyl- resveratrol prodrugs and resveratrol sulfate metabolites

Abstract

Resveratrol (RES) is a natural polyphenol with relevant and varied biological activity. However, its low bioavailability and rapid metabolism to its glucuronate and sulfate conjugates has opened a debate on the mechanisms underlying its bioactivity. RES prodrugs are being developed to overcome these problems. We have synthesized a series of RES prodrugs and RES sulfate metabolites (RES-S) and evaluated their biological activities. RES glucosylated prodrugs (RES-Glc) were more cytotoxic in HT-29 and MCF-7 cells than RES itself whereas RES-S showed similar or higher cytotoxicity than RES. VEGF production was decreased by RES-Glc, and RES-disulfate (RES-diS) diminished it even more than RES. Finally, RES-Glc and RES-diS inhibited hTERT gene expression to a higher extent than RES. In conclusion, resveratrol prodrugs are promising candidates as anticancer drugs. In addition, RES-S showed distinct biological activity, thus indicating they are not simply RES reservoirs.