Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of new acridine-thiazolidine derivatives

Although their exact role in controlling tumour growth and apoptosis in humans remains undefined, acridine and thiazolidine compounds have been shown to act as tumour suppressors in most cancers. Based on this finding, a series of novel hybrid 5-acridin-9-ylmethylene-3-benzyl-thiazolidine-2,4-diones were synthesised via N-alkylation and Michael reaction. The cell viability was analysed using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and DNA interaction assays were performed using electrochemical techniques.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of substituted luotonin A derivatives

Luotonin A is a cytotoxic alkaloid that has been shown to inhibit topoisomerase I via stabilization of the binary complex topoisomerase-DNA in the same fashion as camptothecin. The synthesis and the cytotoxic activity on the lung carcinoma cell line H460 of a series of derivatives of Luotonin A is reported. The compounds inhibit topoisomerase I but show weak cytotoxic activity, thus confirming the peculiarity of ring E of camptothecin for antitumor activity.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of nitric oxide-releasing isosteviol derivatives

Fifteen novel hybrids containing diterpene skeleton and nitric oxide (NO) donor were prepared from isosteviol. All the compounds were tested on preliminary cytotoxicity, and the results showed that six target compounds (8c, 10b, 14a, 14c, 18c, and 18d) exhibited anti-proliferation activity on HepG2 cells, with 8c (IC₅₀ = 4.24 μM) and 18d (IC₅₀ = 2.75 μM) superior to the positive control CDDO-Me (2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9(11)-dien-28-acid methyl ester, IC₅₀ = 4.99 μM); eleven target compounds (8a–c, 9a–c, 10a–b, 14a, 14c, 18d) exhibited anti-proliferation activities on B16F10 cells at different levels, among them, seven compounds were more potent than comptothecin (IC₅₀ = 2.78 μM) and CDDO-Me (IC₅₀ = 5.85 μM), particularly, 10b (IC₅₀ = 0.02 μM) presented the strongest effect, which was selected as a candidate for further study.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of novel derivatives of 4'-demethylepipodophyllotoxin

Nine novel 4beta-N-substituted-5-FU-4'-demethylepipodophyllotoxin derivatives were synthesized and evaluated as potential antitumor agents. All of the target compounds showed more significant cytotoxic activity against HL-60 and A-549 in vitro than VP-16 and 5-FU. Among them, 4beta-N-substituted-phenylalanine 5-Fu pentyl ester-4'-demethylepipodophyllotoxin (9 g) was found to exhibit most potent cytotoxic activity against HL-60 and A-549 cell (IC50 is 0.04 and <0.01 microM, respectively).     

Synthesis of beta-C-glycopyranosyl-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives and their cytotoxic activity

Beta-C-Glucosyl and beta-C-galactosyl-1,4-dimethoxynaphthalenes have been synthesized using a F3CCO2Ag/SnCl4 promoted Friedel-Crafts electrophilic substitution reaction. Both glycosyl acetates and methyl glycosides can be used as glycosyl donors. Further oxidation afforded the corresponding beta-C-glycosyl-1,4-naphthoquinones. The in vitro cytotoxic activity of these compounds was evaluated against the A375 cell line.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of novel quinazolino-beta-carboline-5-one derivatives

A novel series of quinazolino-beta-carbolinone derivatives was synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro and in vivo anticancer activity. Many compounds have shown good in vitro activity in the range 1-8 microM concentration. Three of the compounds were further tested in nude mice bearing HT-29 colon cancer xenografts.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of non-naturally substituted 4-oxycoumarin derivatives

Coumarins are a large family of natural and synthetic compounds exerting different pharmacological effects, including cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory or antimicrobial. In the present communication we report the synthesis of a series of 12 diversely substituted 4-oxycoumarin derivatives including methoxy substituted 4-hydroxycoumarins, methyl, methoxy or unsubstituted 3-aryl-4-hydroxycoumarins and 4-benzyloxycoumarins and their anti-proliferative effects on breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7), human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60), human histiocytic lymphoma cells (U937) and mouse neuroblastoma cells (Neuro2a). The most potent bioactive molecule was the 4-hydroxy-5,7-dimethoxycoumarin (compound 1) which showed similar potency (IC(50) 0.2-2μM) in all cancer cell lines tested. This non-natural product reveals a simple bioactive scaffold which may be exploited in further studies.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of A-ring modified betulinic acid derivatives

New A-ring modified betulinic acid derivatives having small steric hindrance were prepared and tested for cytotoxic activity on 3 cancer cell lines: 10 compounds showed stronger cytotoxic activity than betulinic acid. Especially, the compounds bearing 1-ene-3-oxo with electron-withdrawing groups at C2 showed strong cytotoxicity.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of heterocyclic ring-substituted betulinic acid derivatives

A new series of betulinic acid derivatives have been synthesized by introducing heterocyclic ring between C-2 and C-3 positions of betulinic acid. Further modifications were also carried out by reduction of C-20(29) unsaturated bond and substitution of C-28 carboxyl group by ester and amide linkage to enhance the selectivity. Compound 11 resulted in IC(50) of 2.44, 2.5, and 2.7 microg/ml on MIAPaCa, PA-1, and SW620 cancer cell lines, respectively. Compound 38 resulted in IC(50) of 0.67 microg/ml on MIAPaCa cell line.     

Synthesis of coumarin derivatives with cytotoxic, antibacterial and antifungal activity

The synthesis and selective biological screening of 7-hydroxy-4-methyl-2H-chromen-2-one (2), 7-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2H-chromen-2-one (15) and some of their derivatives were carried out. Compound 13 was found to be most potent cytotoxic agent with LD50 = 126.69 microg/ml. In antibacterial assay the compounds showed a broad spectrum of activities. Compound 11 exhibited a very high degree of plant growth inhibition at three levels of concentration. Compound 4 showed very promising antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Compounds 12 and 13 demonstrated excellent antioxidant activity.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity evaluation of dihydrocucurbitacin B and cucurbitacin B derivatives

Two cucurbitacins, dihydrocucurbitacin B (1) and cucurbitacin B (2), which can be obtained in large amounts from the roots of Wilbrandia ebracteata and from the fruits of Luffa operculata, respectively, were used as starting materials for the preparation of a library of 29 semi-synthetic derivatives. The structural changes that were performed include the removal, modification or permutation of functional groups in rings A and B as well as in the side chain. All new semisynthetic compounds, as well as 1 and 2, were tested in vitro for their cytotoxic effects on non-small-cell lung cancer cells (A549 cells). Some of these compound displayed potent to moderate activity against A549 tumor cells, especially those cucurbitacin B derivatives which were modified at ring A.     

Synthesis,cytotoxic and combined cDDP activity of new stable curcumin derivatives

New curcumin derivatives are synthesized in order to improve chemical properties of curcumin. The aromatic ring glycosylation of curcumin provides more water-soluble compounds with a greater kinetic stability which is a fundamental feature for drug bioavailability. The glycosylation reaction is quite simple, low cost, with high yield and minimum waste. NMR data show that the ability of curcumin to coordinate metal ion, in particular Ga(III), is maintained in the synthesized products. Although the binding of glucose to curcumin reduces the cytotoxicity of the derivatives towards cisplatin (cDDP)-sensitive and -resistant human ovarian carcinoma cell lines, the compounds display a good selectivity since they are much less toxic against non-tumourigenic Vero cells. The combination of cDDP with the most active glycosyl-curcuminoid drug against both cDDP-sensitive and -resistant as well as against Vero cell lines is tested. The results show an improvement of cDDP efficacy with higher selectivity towards cancer cells than non-cancer cells. These studies indicate the need for developing new valid components of drug treatment protocols to cDDP-resistant cells as well.     

Synthesis and antitumor activity of biotinylated camptothecin derivatives as potent cytotoxic agents

A series of biotinylated camptothecin derivatives were designed and synthesized. The key to the synthesis was achieved by employing an esterification reaction and click chemistry. All of the new derivatives were tested for cytotoxicity against five human tumor cell lines, including HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, and SW480 with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.13 to 21.53?μM. Most of the derivatives exhibited potent cytotoxicity, especially compound 17 (IC₅₀?=?0.13–3.31?μM) and compound 18 (IC₅₀?=?0.23–1.48?μM), which exhibited the highest potencies. The structure-activity relationships (SARs) of the biotinylated camptothecin derivatives were discussed for exploring novel anticancer agents.     

Synthesis and topoisomerase II inhibitory and cytotoxic activity of oxiranylmethoxy- and thiiranylmethoxy-chalcone derivatives

In order to find potential anticancer drug candidate targeting topoisomerases enzyme, we have designed and synthesized oxiranylmethoxy- and thiiranylmethoxy-retrochalcone derivatives and evaluated their pharmacological activity including topoisomerases inhibitory and cytotoxic activity. Of the compounds prepared compound 25 showed comparable or better cytotoxic activity against cancer cell lines tested. Compound 25 inhibited MCF7 (IC₅₀: 0.49 ± 0.21 μM) and HCT15 (IC₅₀: 0.23 ± 0.02 μM) carcinoma cell growth more efficiently than references. In the topoisomerases inhibition test, all the compounds were inactive to topoisomerase I but moderate inhibitors to topoisomerase II enzyme. Especially, compound 25 inhibited topoisomerase II activity with comparable extent to etoposide at 100 μM concentrations. Correlation between cytotoxicity and topoisomerase II inhibitory activity implies that compound 25 can be a possible lead compound for anticancer drug impeding the topoisomerase II function.     

Synthesis and antiproliferative activity of new cytotoxic azanaphthoquinone pyrrolo-annelated derivatives: Part II

A series of 6-azanaphthoquinone pyrrolo-annelated derivatives carrying different basic side chains have been synthesized. The antiproliferative activities of all compounds were evaluated on at least four different cell lines with Mitoxantrone as reference compound. Cytotoxic effects and DNA intercalation behavior were investigated.     

Synthesis,characterization and cytotoxic activity on breast cancer cells of new half-titanocene derivatives

A series of novel titanocene-complexes has been prepared and evaluated for their growth regulatory effects in MCF7 and SkBr3 breast cancer cells. The capability of some of these compound to elicit relevant repressive effects on cancer cell growth could be taken into account towards novel pharmacological approaches in cancer therapy.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activities of usnic acid derivatives

Nine usnic acid-amine conjugates were evaluated on murine and human cancer cell lines. The polyamine derivatives showed significant cytotoxicity in L1210 cells. Their activities appeared to be independent of the polyamine transport system (PTS). Indeed, their activities were similar in chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and in the PTS deficient CHO-MG cells. In addition, alpha-difluoromethylornithine, an ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor known to indirectly enhance the activity of the PTS and consequently increase the cytotoxicity of cytotoxic drugs entering cells via the PTS, had no effect on the activity of the polyamine derivatives. The more active derivative (1,8-diaminooctane derivative) displayed similar activities on all cancer cell lines studied and induced apoptosis.     

Triazolopyridazine derivatives: Synthesis,cytotoxic evaluation,c-Met kinase activity and molecular docking

Novel series of some triazolo[4,3-b]pyridazine derivatives were designed and synthesized. All the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity at 10⁻⁵ M concentration towards 60 cancer cell lines according to USA NCI protocol. Most of the synthesized compounds showed good activity against SR (leukemia) cell panel. The most active compounds, 2f and 4a were subjected for further evaluation at a five dose level screening and their efficacy for c-Met kinase inhibition was determined in vitro. Binding mode of these derivatives was explored via molecular docking.     

Synthesis of novel 2-alkyl triazole-3-alkyl substituted quinoline derivatives and their cytotoxic activity

The propargyl alcohol on reaction with alkylazides under Sharpless conditions through click chemistry concept gave exclusively 1,4-disubstituted triazoles 2. The compounds 2 were oxidized to aldehydes 3 followed by reaction with aniline resulted Schiff’s bases 4. The compounds 4 was further reacted with various aldehydes having α-hydrogen using molecular iodine as a catalyst and obtained 2-alkyl triazole-3-alkyl substituted quinoline derivatives 5. All the final compounds were screened against four human cancer cell lines (THP-1, Colo205, U937 & HeLa) and promising compounds have been identified.     

Synthesis of novel 1,2,3-triazole/isoxazole functionalized 2H-Chromene derivatives and their cytotoxic activity

A series of novel 2-(1,2,3-triazolylmethoxy) 5a–q and isoxazole tagged 6a–g 2H-Chromene derivatives were prepared starting from salicylaldehyde and ethyl-4,4,4-trifluoroacetoacetate via cyclization to form ethyl 2-hydroxy-2-(trifluoromethyl)-2H-Chromene-3-carboxylate 3. Compound 3 on reaction with propargyl bromide resulted compound 4 and was independently reacted with aryl/alkyl azides and aryl aldoximes obtained 2-(1,2,3-triazolylmethoxy) and isoxazole tagged 2H-Chromene derivatives 5a–q, 6a–i, respectively. Compounds 6 were further hydrolysed to acid derivatives 7a–g. All the products 5a–q, 6a–i, 7a–g were screened for cytotoxic activity against four human cancer cell lines and among all the compounds, 5f, 5g, 5l, 5q showed promising activity at <20 μM concentration.