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The Chemopreventive Power of Isothiocyanates

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Natural Products for Cancer Chemoprevention

Abstract

Isothiocyanates are derived from their naturally-occurring glucosinolate precursors, which are abundant in cruciferous vegetables. Numerous scientific studies beginning more than half a century ago have documented the chemoprotective activities of these compounds. Isothiocyanates have numerous protein targets through which they exert protection in the context of various diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration, inflammatory disease, metabolic disease and infection. The major mechanisms by which the isothiocyanates confer protection involve induction of stress response pathways that restore the cellular redox and protein homeostasis, and contribute to resolution of inflammation. However, high concentrations of isothiocyanates cause cell cycle arrest and selectively kill cancer cells by inducing apoptosis, autophagy or necrosis. In this review, we present readers with a detailed overview of isothiocyanates functions and discuss their molecular targets and antineoplastic effects. Furthermore, we provide an up-to-date summary of the evidence on the chemoprotective activities of the most widely-studied isothiocyanates: sulforaphane, phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) and benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC).

This chapter is dedicated to Paul Talalay MD (1923–2019) whose vision, scientific rigour, and insightful mentoring have inspired the work and influenced the lives of generations of scientists. He was a pioneer in cancer chemoprevention, famously saying of the early days of the field ‘no room was small enough to accommodate the few who were interested’. His leadership in quantitative discovery science culminated in the isolation from broccoli of the isothiocyanate sulforaphane as inducer of cytoprotective enzymes, leading to the exponential growth of research on sulforaphane worldwide and its current development for disease prevention in humans. Although we have lost our hero, the treasure of his legacy will always be kept.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Sharadha Dayalan Naidu & Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova

  2. Division of Epigenomics and Cancer Risk Factors, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

    Lidia Brodziak-Jarosz & Clarissa Gerhäuser

  3. Division of Cellular Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK

    Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova

  4. Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova

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  3. Clarissa Gerhäuser
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  4. Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova
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Correspondence to Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    John M. Pezzuto

  2. Department of Science, Systems & Models, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Ole Vang

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Dayalan Naidu, S., Brodziak-Jarosz, L., Gerhäuser, C., Dinkova-Kostova, A.T. (2020). The Chemopreventive Power of Isothiocyanates. In: Pezzuto, J., Vang, O. (eds) Natural Products for Cancer Chemoprevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39855-2_9

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