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 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 and cytotoxic activities of 1-benzylidine substituted beta-carboline derivatives

A series of new beta-carboline derivatives, bearing a benzylidine substituent at position-1, has been prepared and evaluated in vitro against a panel of human cell lines. The N(2)-benzylated beta-carbolinium bromates represented the most interesting cytotoxic activities. In particular, compounds 19 were found to be the most potent compounds with IC(50) values lower than 5 microM against 10 strains human tumor cell lines. These results confirmed that the N(2)-benzyl substituent on the beta-carboline ring played an important role in the modulation of the cytotoxic activities and suggested that further development of such compounds may be interest.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of thiazolofluorenone derivatives

The synthesis and biological evaluation of some novel thiazolofluorenones, thiazolofluorenes and thiazoloanthraquinones, substituted with amino side-chains are described. These polyheterocyclic compounds have been synthesized via the corresponding imino-1,2,3-dithiazoles. Their cytotoxic activity and their eventual selective effect on a phase of the cell cycle were evaluated in vitro, using the murine lymphocytic L1210 leukaemia cell line.     

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 and cytotoxic activity of gamma-aryl substituted alpha-alkylidene-gamma-lactones and alpha-alkylidene-gamma-lactams

A series of 5-aryl-3-alkylidenedihydrofuran-2(3H)-ones 6a–g″ and 11a,b as well as 5-aryl-3-methylidenepyrrolidin-2-ones 10a–c and 12 were synthesized starting from 4-aryl-2-diethoxyphosphoryl-4-oxobutanoates 3a–g. Reaction sequence includes reduction or reductive amination of the carbonyl group, lactonization or lactamization step and finally the Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination of aldehydes using thus obtained 5-aryl-3-diethoxyphosphoryl-3,4-dihydrofuran-2(5H)-ones 5a–g″ or 5-aryl-3-diethoxyphosphorylpyrrolidin-2-ones 9a–c. Furanones 6 and 11, as well as pyrrolidinones 10 and 12, were evaluated in vitro against mouse leukemia cell line L-1210 and two human leukemia cell lines HL-60 and NALM-6. Several of the obtained furanones proved to be very potent against all three cell lines with IC₅₀ values lower than 6 μM. Structure–activity relationships of these compounds, as well as 5-alkyl or 5-arylmethyl-3-methylidenedihydrofuran-2(3H)-ones 13a–e, previously obtained in our laboratory, are discussed.     

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 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 acrosin inhibitory activity of substituted 4-amino-N-(diaminomethylene) benzenesulfonamide derivatives

A series of new substituted 4-amino-N-(diaminomethylene) benzenesulfonamides were synthesized and their in vitro acrosin inhibitory activities were evaluated. Most of the compounds showed potent acrosin inhibitory activities with compounds 4o and 4p being significantly more potent than the control compound N-alpha-tosyl-l-lysyl-chloromethyl-ketone (TLCK). The compounds provide a new scaffold for the development of acrosin inhibitory agents.     

Synthesis and antitubercular activity of heterocycle substituted diphenyl ether derivatives

Despite being an ancient disease, tuberculosis (TB) remains the leading single-agent infectious disease killer in the world. The emerging serious problem of TB control and clinical management prompted us to synthesize a novel series of heterocyclic substituted diphenyl ether derivatives and determine their activity against the H37Rv strain of Mycobacterium. All ten compounds inhibited the growth of the H37Rv strain of Mycobacterium at concentrations of 1 μg/mL. This activity was found to be comparable to the reference drugs rifampicin and isoniazid at the same concentration. While the antimicrobial activity of other diphenyl ether analogues, such as triclosan, is associated with the inhibition of enoyl-ACP reductase (ENR), the synthesised substituted diphenyl ether derivatives did not affect this enzyme activity in spite of their structural similarity with triclosan. Therefore, these compounds appear to have a novel mechanism of action against M. tuberculosis, and their structural features should be studied further for their potential as new antitubercular drugs.     

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 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 combretastatin A-4 O-alkyl derivatives and evaluation of their cytotoxic,antiangiogenic and antitelomerase activity

We here report the synthesis and biological evaluation of several combretastatin A-4 derivatives alkylated at the phenol hydroxyl group. Some of these derivatives contain an (E)-arylalkene fragment reminiscent of that present in some natural stilbenes like resveratrol. The cytotoxicities towards one human healthy kidney embryonic and two tumoral cell lines were determined. In addition, the ability of these compounds to inhibit the production of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was measured. Finally, the expression of genes controlling the production of telomerase was measured. Some of the compounds were found to have an activity comparable or higher than that of combretastatin A-4 in at least one of the aforementioned biological properties. The compounds with the (E)-arylalkene fragment were in general terms more active than the simple O-alkyl derivatives. However, no clear structure/activity correlations were perceived when comparing the observed compound activities across the three biological properties. This points out the existence of marked differences between the mechanisms responsible for their cytotoxicity.     

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 evaluation of substituted urea derivatives as inhibitors of human-leukemia K562 cells

A series of substituted urea derivatives, compounds 1-14, were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against the human-leukemia K562 cell line. Two structurally simple compounds, 7 and 12, both incorporating a morpholine ring, were found to be highly active, with IC50 values of ca. 0.25 microM.     

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 and cytotoxic activity evaluation of 2,3-thiazolidin-4-one derivatives on human breast cancer cell lines

It is well known that resveratrol (RSV) displayed cancer-preventing and anticancer properties but its clinical application is limited because of a low bioavailability and a rapid clearance from the circulation. Aim of this work was to synthesize pharmacologically active resveratrol analogs with an enhanced structural rigidity and bioavailability. In particular, we have synthesized a library of 2,3-thiazolidin-4-one derivatives in which a thiazolidinone nucleus connects two aromatic rings. Some of these compounds showed strong inhibitory effects on breast cancer cell growth. Our results indicate that some of thiazolidin-based resveratrol derivatives may become a new potent alternative tool for the treatment of human breast cancer.     

Synthesis and antiproliferative activity of substituted benzopyranoisoindoles: a new class of cytotoxic compounds

A series of novel aminosubstituted benzopyranoisoindoles possessing structural analogy to an active nitracrine metabolite are reported. The compounds exhibited interesting cytotoxic activity against a panel of cell lines, which was maximized by the presence of both 1-dialkylaminoethyl and 3-nitro substituents.