Anticancer activity of olive oil hydroxytyrosyl acetate in human adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cells.

The anticancer activity of hydroxytyrosyl acetate (HTy-Ac) has been studied in human colon adenocarcinoma cells. Gene expression of proteins involved in cell cycle (p21, p53, cyclin B1, and cyclin G2) and programmed cell death (BNIP3, BNIP3L, PDCD4, and ATF3), as well as phase I and phase II detoxifying enzymes CYPA1 and UGT1A10, were evaluated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction after 24 h of exposure of Caco-2/TC7 cells to 5, 10, and 50 μM of HTy-Ac. The results show that HTy-Ac inhibited cell proliferation and arrested cell cycle by enhancing p21 and CCNG2 and lowering CCNB1 protein expression. HTy-Ac also affected the transcription of genes involved in apoptosis up-regulating of BNIP3, BNIP3L, PDCD4, and ATF3 and activating caspase-3. In addition, HTy-Ac also up-regulated xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes CYP1A1 and UGT1A10, thus enhancing carcinogen detoxification. In conclusion, these results highlight that HTy-Ac has the potential to modulate biomarkers involved in colon cancer.