We investigated whether various carotenoids present in foodstuffs were potentially involved in cancer-preventing action on human prostate cancer. The effects of 15 kinds of carotenoids on the viability of three lines of human prostate cancer cells, PC-3, DU 145 and LNCaP, were evaluated. When the prostate cancer cells were cultured in a carotenoid-supplemented medium for 72 h at 20 micromol/L, 5,6-monoepoxy carotenoids, namely, neoxanthin from spinach and fucoxanthin from brown algae, significantly reduced cell viability to 10.9 and 14.9% for PC-3, 15.0 and 5.0% for DU 145, and nearly zero and 9.8% for LNCaP, respectively. Acyclic carotenoids such as phytofluene, zeta-carotene and lycopene, all of which are present in tomato, also significantly reduced cell viability. On the other hand, phytoene, canthaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin did not affect the growth of the prostate cancer cells. DNA fragmentation of nuclei in neoxanthin- and fucoxanthin-treated cells was detected by in situ TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Neoxanthin and fucoxanthin were found to reduce cell viability through apoptosis induction in the human prostate cancer cells. These results suggest that ingestion of leafy green vegetables and edible brown algae rich in neoxanthin and fucoxanthin might have the potential to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are steroidal plant hormones that are essential for growth and development. It has been proposed that BRs are synthesized via two parallel pathways, the early and late C-6 oxidation pathways according to the C-6 oxidation status. The tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Dwarf gene encodes a cytochrome P450 that has been shown to catalyze the C-6 oxidation of 6-deoxocastasterone to castasterone. We isolated an Arabidopsis ortholog (AtBR6ox gene) of the tomato Dwarf gene. The encoded polypeptide has characteristics of P450s and is classified into the CYP85 family. The AtBR6ox and tomato Dwarf gene were expressed in yeast and the ability of the transformed yeast cells to metabolize 6-deoxo-BRs was tested. Metabolites were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Both enzymes catalyze multiple steps in BR biosynthesis: 6-deoxoteasterone to teasterone, 3-dehydro-6-deoxoteasterone to 3-dehydroteasterone, 6-deoxotyphasterol to typhasterol, and 6-deoxocastasterone to castasterone. Our results indicate that the AtBR6ox gene and the tomato Dwarf gene encode steroid-6-oxidases and that these enzymes have a broad substrate specificity. This suggests that the BR biosynthetic pathway consists of a metabolic grid rather than two separate parallel pathways.

Despite the interest in the beneficial roles of dietary carotenoids in human health, little is known about their solubilization from foods to mixed bile micelles during digestion and the intestinal uptake from the micelles. We investigated the absorption of carotenoids solubilized in mixed micelles by differentiated Caco-2 human intestinal cells, which is a useful model for studying the absorption of dietary compounds by intestinal cells. The micelles were composed of 1 micromol/L carotenoids, 2 mmol/L sodium taurocholate, 100 micromol/L monoacylglycerol, 33.3 micromol/L fatty acid and phospholipid (0-200 micromol/L). The phospholipid content of micelles had profound effects on the cellular uptake of carotenoids. Uptake of micellar beta-carotene and lutein was greatly suppressed by phosphatidylcholine (PC) in a dose-dependent manner, whereas lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC), the lipolysis product of PC by phospholipase A2 (PLA2), markedly enhanced both beta-carotene and lutein uptake. The addition of PLA2 from porcine pancreas to the medium also enhanced the uptake of carotenoids from micelles containing PC. Caco-2 cells could take up 15 dietary carotenoids, including epoxy carotenoids, such as violaxanthin, neoxanthin and fucoxanthin, from micellar carotenoids, and the uptakes showed a linear correlation with their lipophilicity, defined as the distribution coefficient in 1-octanol/water (log P(ow)). These results suggest that pancreatic PLA2 and lysoPC are important in regulating the absorption of carotenoids in the digestive tract and support a simple diffusion mechanism for carotenoid absorption by the intestinal epithelium.