Discovery and Synthesis of Conjugated Fatty Acids from Natural Products

Conjugated fatty acids are a promising ingredient for cancer prevention and treatment. Conjugated fatty acids are minor fatty acids that are rarely found in nature, although a wide variety of structures are known. In recent years, studies have been conducted to screen natural products containing conjugated fatty acids and to synthesize conjugated fatty acids using enzymes derived from natural products. As a result, it was found that the seed oils of Centranthus ruber and Valeriana officinalis, which belong to the Valerianaceae family, contain conjugated linolenic acid, which has a conjugated triene structure in the molecule. Furthermore, it was found that parinaric acid, a conjugated tetraenoic fatty acid, can be synthesized by adding α-linolenic acid to enzymes extracted from the brown alga Padina arborescens Holmes. These research results are expected to be useful in securing conjugated fatty acids in quantities that can withstand practical application. Recent studies have reported that the cytotoxic effect of conjugated fatty acids is due to a programmed cell death called "ferroptosis". Many anticancer drugs exhibit anticancer activity through DNA modification, cell cycle arrest, angiogenesis inhibition, and epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition. Conjugated fatty acids, however, induce cell death through a mechanism distinct from these mechanisms and are therefore expected to be effective against cancers resistant to currently used anticancer drugs. The results of these studies will help to promote research on the use of conjugated fatty acids to overcome intractable cancers in the future.