The induction of apoptosis in pre-malignant keratinocytes by omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is inhibited by albumin

The long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have been reported to exert anti-cancer effects. At this study we tested the effect of the omega-3 PUFA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), on pre-malignant keratinocytes growth in the well-characterised human pre-malignant epidermal cell line, HaCaT and attempted to identify a PUFA serum antagonist. Both EPA and DHA inhibited HaCaT growth and induced apoptosis. At the 10% (v/v) foetal bovine serum (FBS) medium, limited growth inhibition (3–20% for 50 μM DHA and EPA respectively) and negligible apoptosis were observed with PUFA use. However, at 3% (v/v) FBS medium, 30–50 μM of PUFA caused impressive levels of growth inhibition (82–83% for 50 μM DHA and EPA respectively) and increase of apoptosis (8–19% increase in 72 h). None of the numerous serum growth factors present in FBS or the antioxidant n-tert-butyl-α-phenylnitrone could inhibit the PUFA-induced cytotoxicity. In contrast, bovine and human albumin (0.1–0.3%, w/v) significantly antagonized the growth inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effects of PUFA. In conclusion, we have shown for the first time that omega-3 PUFA inhibit the growth and induce apoptosis of pre-malignant keratinocytes and identified albumin as a major antagonistic factor in serum that could limit their effectiveness at pharmacologically-achievable doses.

► Anti-cancer properties of omega-3 PUFA in pre-malignant epidermal keratinocytes.
► Implications for their potential role as cancer chemopreventative agents in skin.
► Inhibition of cell growth via apoptosis, independently of p53 and possibly p73.
► A strong PUFA inhibitor in serum was identified as albumin.
► Growth inhibition was not reversed by an antioxidant in contrast to other studies.