Four pure chemicals, ellagic acid (
E), caffeic acid (
C), luteolin (
L) and punicic acid (
P), all important components of the aqueous compartments or oily compartment of pomegranate fruit (
Punica granatum), and each belonging to different representative chemical classes and showing known anticancer activities, were tested as potential inhibitors of
in vitro invasion of human PC-3 prostate cancer cells in an assay employing Matrigel™ artificial membranes. All compounds significantly inhibited invasion when employed individually. When
C,
P, and
L were equally combined at the same gross dosage (4 μ g/ml) as when the compounds were tested individually, a supradditive inhibition of invasion was observed, measured by the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test.
Key words caffeic acid - conjugated fatty acid - ellagic acid - luteolin - punicic acid