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The jasmonates are a group of plant stress hormones that naturally occur in plants following exposure to certain types of stresses, including pathogen and herbivore attacks. (±)-Jasmonic acid methyl ester is a mixture of trans (3R/7R and 3S/7S) isomers. (±)-Jasmonic acid methyl ester induces the synthesis of proteinase inhibitors in plant leaves. In cancer cells, it suppresses proliferation and induces apoptosis. More specifically, methyl jasmonate inhibits hexokinase that is bound to mitochondria. As hexokinase is overexpressed in cancer cells and contributes to cancer cell growth and survival, methyl jasmonate’s disruption of mitochondrial hexokinase activity selectively targets, and kills, cancer cells. (±)-Jasmonic acid methyl ester derivatives also have potential as anti-inflammatory agents.

it was found that (±)-jasmonic acid methyl ester, when applied to surfaces of tomato plants, could induce the synthesis of defensive proteinase inhibitor proteins. the presence of (±)-jasmonic acid methyl ester in the chamber atmosphere containing plants resulted in the accumulation of proteinase inhibitors in leaves of all studied three species [1]. another study found that (±)-jasmonic acid methyl ester could induce death in each of the studied cell lines, while other plant stress hormones could not affect normal human lymphocytes. in addition, (±)-jasmonic acid methyl ester caused apoptotic death, as measured by flow cytometric dna profile, characteristic nuclear morphology, and caspase-3 activity elevation [2].

animal study showed that mice bearing el-4 lymphoma and treated with (±)-jasmonic acid methyl ester survived for significantly longer periods of time than untreated mice, suggesting that plant stress hormones might potentially be a new class of anti-cancer drugs [2].

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1. farmer, e.e. and ryan, c.a. interplant communication: airborne methyl jasmonate induces synthesis of proteinase inhibitors in plant leaves. proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america 87, 7713-7716 (1990).2. fingrut, o. and flescher, e. plant stress hormones suppress the proliferation and induce apoptosis in human cancer cells. leukemia 16, 608-616 (2002).