Glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives containing aminophosphonate ester species as multidrug resistance reversers that block the NF-κB pathway and cell proliferation

Novel NF-κB inhibitors based on Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) derivatives containing aminophosphonate ester moieties were rationally designed and synthesized as well as evaluated their antitumor activities using MTT assay. Many target compounds showed potent antitumor activities against the tested human cancer cell lines including cisplatin-resistant cells, and exhibited significant inhibitory activity to the NF-κB with IC₅₀ values at micromolar concentrations in A549 cells, respectively. Among them, compound 12e possessed excellent antitumor activities against the tested human cancer cell lines and showed low cytotoxicity toward to human normal liver cells. Moreover, 12e caused obvious loss of MMP and significantly induced ROS production, and displayed inhibition of cell migration against A549 cells in vitro. Importantly, 12e arrested the cell cycle at the S phases and ultimately induced cell apoptosis in A549 cells through blockage of NF-κB signaling pathway. Our research provided an efficient strategy for targeting NF-κB antitumor drug development.