Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University of Health and Welfare
Abstract
The distribution of benzyl caffeate (BC), cinnamyl caffeate (CC) and phenethyl caffeate (PC) isolatedfrom propolis in mixed dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/ganglioside GD3 (GD3) monolayer as amodel of a tumor membrane, and the effects of the caffeic acid esters on the mixed DPPC/GD3monolayer were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). BC distributed in the mixed DPPC/GD3monolayer formed a clear percolation pattern. The effect of BC on the mixed DPPC/GD3 membranewas similar to those of known antitumor compounds, suggesting that BC might possess antitumoractivity. The effect of PC on the mixed monolayer seems to be weaker than that of BC; however, onGD3 alone monolayer, the effect was similar to that of BC. It was suggested that the molecular size ofthe caffeic acid esters affected their activity on the mixed DPPC/GD3 monolayer