Design and synthesis of gambogic acid analogs as potent cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory agents

Prenyl- and pyrano-xanthones derived from 1,3,6-trihydroxy-9H-xanthen-9-one, a basic backbone of gambogic acid (GA), were synthesized and evaluated for in vitro cytotoxic effects against four human cancer cell lines (KB, KBvin, A549, and DU-145) and anti-inflammatory activity toward superoxide anion generation and elastase release by human neutrophils in response to fMLP/CB. Among them, prenylxanthones 7-13 were generally less active than pyranoxanthones 14-21 in both anticancer and anti-inflammatory assays. Furthermore, two angular 3,3-dimethypyranoxanthones (16 and 20) showed the greatest and selective activity against the KBvin multidrug resistant (MDR) cell line with IC(50) values of 0.9 and 0.8 μg/mL, respectively. An angular 3-methyl-3-prenylpyranoxanthone (17) selectively inhibited elastase release with 200 times more potency than phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), the positive control.