Synthesis of 9-hydroxystearic acid derivatives and their antiproliferative activity on HT 29 cancer cells

9-Hydroxystearic acid (9-HSA) is an endogenous cellular lipid that possesses antiproliferative and selective effects against cancer cells. A series of derivatives were synthesized in order to investigate the effect of the substituent in position 9 and on the methyl ester functionality on the biological activity. The two separate enantiomers of methyl 9-hydroxystearate and of methyl 9-aminostearate showed antiproliferative activity against the HT29 cell line. This indicates the importance of position 9 groups being able to make hydrogen bonding with the molecular target. Further, this effect must be preserved when the carboxy group of 9-HSA is esterified. The biological tests showed that the amines, contrarily to methyl esters, resulted in cytotoxicity. A deep investigation on the effect of methyl (R)-9-hydroxystearate on HT29 cells showed an antiproliferative effect acting through the CDKN1A and MYCBP gene expression.