Anti-leukemic activities of Dictyostelium secondary metabolites: a novel aromatic metabolite, 4-methyl-5-n-pentylbenzene-1,3-diol, isolated from Dictyostelium mucoroides suppresses cell growth in human leukemia K562 and HL-60 cells.

It has previously been shown that DIF-1, a differentiation-inducing factor of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, possesses antitumor activities in mammalian tumor cells and that neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells can be induced with furanodictines (FDs), aminosugar analogs found in D. discoideum, or dictyoglucosamines (DGs), N-acetyl glucosamine derivatives (DG-A from D. purpureum and DG-B from D. discoideum). Thus, cellular slime molds are attractive natural resources that may provide valuable lead compounds to be utilized in the field of pharmacology and medicine. In this study, we have isolated a novel aromatic compound, 4-methyl-5-n-pentylbenzene-1,3-diol (MPBD), from fruiting bodies of the cellular slime mold D. mucoroides and assessed the in vitro antiproliferative activities of MPBD, FDs, and DGs in human leukemia K562 and HL-60 cells. MPBD at 20-80 microM dose-dependently suppressed cell growth in both K562 and HL-60 cells. While FDs at 10-80 microM did not affect cell growth, DGs at 10-40 microM dose-dependently suppressed cell growth in the cells. Although we failed to find the roles of FDs and DGs in the original organisms, MPBD at 5-20 microM was found to promote stalk cell formation in D. discoideum. The present results indicate that MPBD, DGs or their derivatives may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of cancer and confirm our expectations regarding cellular slime molds as drug resources.