Here, we tested seven 2-acylated-1,4-hydronaphthoquinones for their cytotoxic effects on a panel of cancer lymphoma/leukemia cells and compared to a non-cancer origin cell line. Several naphthohydroquinones exhibited selective cytotoxic effects on lymphoma/leukemia cells with lowest activity on non-cancer cells. The mode of cell death induced by an acylated naphthohydroquinone, which has a long alkyl chain, was found to be via apoptosis. Furthermore, the naphthohydroquinone provoked mitochondria depolarization and activation of its downstream effector, caspase-3, thus implicating the intrinsic apoptotic pathway as its mechanism to exert cell death.
Keywords: Acylated hydroquinones; Anti-lymphoma; Apoptosis; Cytotoxicity; Photochemistry.
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