3-Butenyl isothiocyanate: a hydrolytic product of glucosinolate as a potential cytotoxic agent against human cancer cell lines.

The present study envisages the cytotoxic potential of 3-butenyl isothiocyanate isolated from Brassica juncea L. Czern var. Pusa Jaikisan against the human cancer cell lines viz. prostate, bone osteosarcoma, cervical, liver, neuroblastoma and breast cancer. As the compound was observed to be more effective against prostate cancer cell line, therefore, this cell line was further used to study the mechanism of cell death using neutral red assay, reactive oxygen species assay, mitochondrial membrane potential assay, microscopic and cell cycle analysis. The mechanistic analysis indicated that it induced the cell death of prostate cancer cells via apoptosis and hence made it an excellent choice as an effective anticancer compound.