Synthetic menthyl α/β-(1→6)-diglucopyranosides-induced cell death in human leukemia cells is dependent on caspases

Abstract A series of alkyl α/β-(1→6)-diglucopyranosides 1−12 were synthesized and assessed for cytotoxicity against HL-60, U937, Molt-3 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines. The menthyl derivatives displayed strong cytotoxic properties showing IC 50 values between 6 and 16 μM. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the selected synthetic (+)-menthyl β-(1→6)-diglucopyranoside 5 induces apoptotic cell death in human leukemia cells through a mechanism that involves activation of multiple caspases. Cell death was completely prevented by the non-specific caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk and found to be associated with the release of cytochrome c , an increase in the expression of Bax levels and a decrease in the generation of reactive oxygen species.