Design,synthesis and evaluation of novel levoglucosenone derivatives as promising anticancer agents

A series of levoglucosenone-derived 1,2,3-triazoles and isoxazoles featuring a flexible spacer between the heteroaromatic and anhydropyranose cores have been designed and synthesized following an hetero Michael // 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition path. The use of a design of experiments approach allowed the optimization of the oxa-Michael reaction with propargyl alcohol as nucleophile, a key step for the synthesis of the target compounds. All of the compounds were tested for their anticancer activity on MDA-MB-231 cells, featuring mutant p53. The results highlighted the importance of the introduction of the flexible spacer as well as the higher activity of oxa-Michael isoxazole-derivatives. The most prominent compounds also showed anti-proliferative activities against lung and colon cancer cell lines. The compounds showed enhanced cytotoxic effects in the presence of mutant p53, determined both by endogenous mutant p53 knock down (R280K) and by reintroducing p53 R280K in cells lacking p53 expression.     

Pregnenolone derivatives as potential anticancer agents

Pregnenolone (1) was used as a template to develop new anticancer compounds. Ring-D modification of 1 resulted in the synthesis of benzylidenes 2-17, pyrazolines 18-76, pyrazoles 85-91, hydrazones 77-84, and oximes 92-107 derivatives. The structure of compound 107 was also deduced through single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The inclusion of furanyl and pyridyl rings to pregnenolone skeleton increases the cytotoxicity of all compounds significantly. Among benzylidene derivatives, only heterocyclic enone 8 (IC₅₀ = 0.74 μM/mL against HepG2), and 17 (IC₅₀ = 4.49 μM/mL against HepG2, IC₅₀ = 5.01 μM/mL against MDA-MB-230 cancer cell line) exhibited a significant activity. The cytotoxicity data of pyrazoline derivatives 18-76 revealed that only furanyl bearing pyrazolines 40, 42-44, 48, and 49 exhibited significant activities. While all (O-carboxymethyl) oximes, hydazones, and pyrazoles derivatives of pregnenolone did not show any significant activity against both the cell lines. Thus the furanyl bearing enone 8 (IC₅₀ = 0.74 μM/mL against HepG2), and its pyrazoline derivative 48 (IC₅₀ = 0.91 μM/mL against MDA-MB-230 cancer cell lines) were identified as the most active compounds in all derivatives of pregnenolone.     

Selective inhibition of human carbonic anhydrase IX in Xenopus oocytes and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells

Abstract

Human carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is overexpressed in the most aggressive and invasive tumors. Therefore, CA IX has become the promising antitumor drug target. Three inhibitors have been shown to selectively and with picomolar affinity inhibit human recombinant CA IX. Their inhibitory potencies were determined for the CA IX, CA II, CA IV and CA XII in Xenopus oocytes and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. The inhibition IC₅₀ value of microelectrode-monitored intracellular and extracellular acidification reached 15?nM for CA IX, but with no effect on CA II expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Results were confirmed by mass spectrometric gas analysis of lysed oocytes, when an inhibitory effect on CA IX catalytic activity was found after the injection of 1?nM VD11-4-2. Moreover, VD11-4-2 inhibited CA activity in MDA-MB-231 cancer cells at nanomolar concentrations. This combination of high selectivity and potency renders VD11-4-2, an auspicious therapeutic drug for target-specific tumor therapy.     

亲骨转移乳腺癌细胞MDA-MB-231BO成瘤性的初步研究

目的通过比较亲骨转移乳腺癌细胞（MDA-MB-231BO）和亲代乳腺癌细胞（MDA-MB-231）的生长曲线和致瘤性,初步探讨MDA-MB-231BO细胞的生物学特性。方法MTT法测定两种细胞的生长曲线,并将两种乳腺癌细胞接种于裸鼠腋窝处皮下,建立乳腺癌细胞异种移植瘤动物模型,30 d后处死裸鼠,肿瘤组织及相关脏器官做病理检查。结果MTT法测得MDA-MB-231BO细胞生长速率高于MDA-MB-231细胞。接种两种乳腺癌细胞的裸鼠均长出肿瘤,成瘤率为100%。病理检查符合人乳腺癌细胞特征,MDA-MB-231BO组瘤体体积明显大于MDA-MB-231组（P〈0.05）。结论MDA-MB-231BO细胞生长速率高于MDA-MB-231细胞,而且MDA-MB-231BO在裸鼠体内的致瘤性强于MDA-MB-231。     

Directed evolution of an anti-prion protein scFv fragment to an affinity of 1 pM and its structural interpretation

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal neurodegenerative prion disease affecting cattle that is transmissible to humans, manifesting as a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) likely following the consumption of meat contaminated with BSE prions. High-affinity antibodies are a prerequisite for the development of simple, highly sensitive and non-invasive diagnostic tests that are able to detect even small amounts of the disease-associated PrP conformer (PrP(Sc)). We describe here the affinity maturation of a single-chain Fv antibody fragment with a binding affinity of 1 pM to a peptide derived from the unstructured region of bovine PrP (BoPrP (90-105)). This is the tightest peptide-binding antibody reported to date and may find useful application in diagnostics, especially when PrP(Sc) is pretreated by denaturation and/or proteolysis for peptide-like presentation. Several rounds of directed evolution and off-rate selection with ribosome display were performed using an antibody library generated from a single PrP binder with error-prone PCR and DNA-shuffling. As the correct determinations of affinities in this range are not straightforward, competition biosensor techniques and KinExA methods were both applied and compared. Structural interpretation of the affinity improvement was performed based on the crystal structure of the original prion binder in complex with the BoPrP (95-104) peptide by modeling the corresponding mutations.     

Steroid control of steroidogenesis in isolated adrenocortical cells: molecular and species specificity

The molecular and species specificity of glucocorticoid suppression of corticosteroidogenesis was investigated in isolated adrenocortical cells. Trypsin-isolated cells from male rat, domestic fowl and bovine adrenal glands were incubated with or without steroidogenic agents and with or without steroids. Glucocorticoids were measured by radioimmunoassay or fluorometric assay after 1-2 h incubation. Glucocorticoids suppressed ACTH-induced steroidogenesis of isolated rat cells with the following relative potencies: corticosterone greater than cortisol = cortisone greater than dexamethasone. The mineralocorticoid, aldosterone did not affect steroidogenesis. Suppression by glucocorticoids was acute (within 1-2 h), and varied directly with the glucocorticoid concentration. Testosterone also suppressed ACTH-induced steroidogenesis. Glucocorticoid-type steroids have equivalent suppressive potencies, thus suggesting that these steroids may induce suppression at least partly by a common mechanism. Although corticosterone caused the greatest suppression, testosterone was more potent. The steroid specificity of suppression of cyclic AMP (cAMP)-induced and ACTH-induced steroidogenesis were similar, suggesting that suppression is not solely the result of interference with ACTH receptor function or the induction of adenylate cyclase activity. Exogenous glucocorticoids also suppressed ACTH-induced steroidogenesis of cells isolated from domestic fowl and beef adrenal glands, thus suggesting that this observed suppression may be a general mechanism of adrenocortical cell autoregulation.     

Des activites photosynthetiques sans les complexes pigmentaires CP1 et CP2

Photosynthetic activity in the absence of the CP1 and CP2 pigmentary complexesVarious photochemical activities were tested on chloroplasts of Zea mays that received 4 s of light every 4 h during the culture period. Photosystem I and Photosystem II were functioning, as well as the photosynthetic electron transport. These chloroplasts exhibited upon sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis neither Complex 1 (M_r 70 000) generally associated with Photosystem I nor Complex 2 M_r 25 000) generally associated with Photosystem II. Chlorophyll is indeed attached to polypeptides of molecular weight 21 000 and 29 000.These results lead us to question the functional role of chloroplast protein-pigment complexes observed by sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis.     

Road mortality in the blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) is seasonally driven and sex-biased

Roads are responsible for different negative effects on wildlife, including the isolation of populations and the direct reduction of biodiversity. Millions of animals are killed in traffic every year. Despite that, the influence of animal behaviour on the probability of animal-vehicle collisions has been overlooked by the literature. The blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) is a small, migratory, dichromatic species. During the breeding period, males vigorously defend small, clustered territories. Here, we investigated how the number of roadkills varied spatially and temporally in relation to the breeding activity, density, and sex of grassquits. We demonstrated that the variation in the movement dynamics and reproductive behaviour of the grassquits are associated with a great number of casualties. Road mortality is higher during the breeding period but is not associated with juvenile dispersion. As expected, males have a higher probability of being road-killed than females, suggesting that territory defence and mate searching may increase the risk of mortality. On the other hand, the clustering of individuals may not increase the risk of road fatalities, suggesting that other environmental attributes may influence the probability of being killed on roads.     

Human mammary cancer cell lines and other epithelial cells cultured as organoid tissue in lenticular pouches of reinforced collagen membranes

Summary A system has been developed for the culture of cells that provides conditions favoring the formation of tissues comparable to conditions existing in nature. The culture chamber is a lens-shaped pouch composed of two thin-walled, reinforced, waffled collagen membranes facing each other. The chamber is immersed in immersed in medium in a closed transparent container and incubated on a rocker. On histologic study, after days to weeks in culture, human mammary cancer cell lines BT-20, MCF-7, MDA-231, MDA-468, and T47D grow in the chamber as distinctive structured epithelial tissue. Dog kidney cell line MDCK grows as a papillary adenocarcinoma and rat bladder cancer line NBT-II as an epidermoid carcinoma; cells from clinical effusion tumors produce distinct tissue. Changes in histologic phenotype may be driven by molecular changes at the level of the genome. Resulting alteration of the biochemical functions essential for the integrity of specific durable tissue organization should alter or reset the pattern of tissue organization and of biological behavior, including malignancy and response to cytotoxic chemicals. Lenticular pouch culture promises to be an effective tool for exploring the molecular changes associated with histogenesis and malignancy. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Clyde J. Dawe, who died suddenly on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in a glider accident on July 5, 1996. We were friends for about 40 years. Clyde was one of the finest scholars in cancer biology I have ever known. I learned many things from him and miss him.