[摘要]：A series of alkyl alpha/beta-(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 IC50 values between 6 and 16 mu M. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the selected synthetic (+)-menthyl beta-(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. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
