Investigation of the cytotoxicity of bioinspired coumarin analogues towards human breast cancer cells

Identification of potential biomarkers for sepsis based on neutrophil extracellular trap-related genes

Sepsis is a highly lethal disease that poses a serious threat to human health. Increasing evidence indicates that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are key factors in the pathological progression of sepsis. This study aims to screen potential biomarkers for sepsis and delve into their regulatory function in the pathogenesis. We downloaded 6 microarray datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, with 4 as the training sets and 2 as the validation sets. NETs-related genes (NRGs) were obtained from relevant literature. Differential expression analysis was performed on four training sets separately. We intersected differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the four training sets and NRGs, finally resulting in 19 NETs-related sepsis genes. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) unearthed that NETs-related sepsis genes were majorly abundant in functions and pathways such as defense response to bacterium and Neutrophil extracellular trap formation. Using the PPI network, the MCC algorithm, and the MCODE algorithm in the CytoHubba plugin, 7 sepsis hub genes (ELANE, TLR4, MPO, PADI4, CTSG, MMP9, S100A12) were identified. ROC curve for each Hub gene in the training and validation sets were plotted, which revealed that the Area Under Curve (AUC) values are all greater than 0.6, indicating good classification ability. A total of 349 miRNAs targeting Hub genes were predicted in the mirDIP database, and 620 lncRNAs targeting miRNAs were predicted in the ENCORI database. The ceRNA regulatory network was constructed using Cytoscape software. Finally, we employed the cMAP database to predict small molecular complexes as potentially effective drugs for the treatment of sepsis, such as chloroquine, harpagoside, and PD-123319. In conclusion, this project successfully identified 7 core genes, which may serve as promising candidates for novel sepsis biomarkers. Meanwhile, we constructed a related ceRNA network and predicted potential targeted drugs, providing potential therapeutic targets and treatment strategies for sepsis patients.

Joining up the scattered anticancer knowledge on auraptene and umbelliprenin: a meta-analysis

Auraptene (AUR) and umbelliprenin (UMB) are naturally occurring prenylated coumarins that have demonstrated promising anticancer effects across various human cancer cell lines. This meta-analysis aimed to systematically assess, compare, and quantify the anticancer efficacy of AUR and UMB by synthesizing evidence from in vitro studies. A comprehensive literature search identified 27 eligible studies investigating AUR or UMB against cancer cells. Mixed-effects models revealed significant negative associations between coumarin dose and viability for AUR (est. = - 2.27) and UMB (est. = - 3.990), underscoring their dose-dependent cytotoxicity. Meta-regression indicated slightly higher potency for UMB over AUR, potentially due to increased lipophilicity imparted by additional isoprenyl units. Machine learning approaches identified coumarin dose and cancer type as the most influential determinants of toxicity, while treatment duration and the specific coumarin displayed weaker effects. Moderate (AUR) to substantial (UMB) between-study heterogeneity was detected, although the findings proved robust. In summary, this meta-analysis establishes AUR and UMB as promising natural anticancer candidates with clear dose-toxicity relationships across diverse malignancies. The structural insights and quantifications of anticancer efficacy can inform forthcoming efforts assessing therapeutic potential in pre-clinical models and human trials.

Synthesis of novel coumarin-triazole hybrids and first evaluation of the 4-phenyl substituted hybrid loaded PLGA nanoparticles delivery system to the anticancer activity

Despite the discovery of many chemotherapeutic drugs that prevent uncontrolled cell division processes in the last century, many studies are still being carried out to develop drugs with higher anticancer efficacy and lower level of side effects. Herein, we designed, synthesized, and characterized six novel coumarin-triazole hybrids, and evaluated for anticancer activity of the one with the highest potential against the breast cancer cell line, MCF-7 and human cervical cancer cell line, human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa). Compound21which was the coumarin derivative including phenyl substituent with the lowest IC50 value displayed the highest cytotoxicity against the studied cancer cell line. Furthermore, the potential use of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (PLGA NPs) prepared by the emulsifying solvent evaporation method as a platform for a drug delivery system was studied on a selected coumarin derivative21. This coumarin derivative-loaded PLGA NPs were produced with an average size of 225.90 ± 2.96 nm, -16.90 ± 0.85 mV zeta potential, and 4.12 ± 0.90% drug loading capacity. The obtained21-loaded PLGA nanoparticles were analyzed spectroscopically and microscopically with FT-IR, UV-vis, and scanning electron microscopy as well as thermogravimetric analysis, Raman, and x-ray diffraction. Thein vitrorelease of21from the nanoparticles exhibited a controlled release profile just over one month following a burst release in the initial six hours and in addition to this a total release ratio of %50 and %85 were obtained at pH 7.4 and 5.5, respectively.21-loaded PLGA nanoparticles displayed remarkably effective anticancer activity than21. The IC50 values were determined as IC50(21-loaded PLGA nanoparticles): 0.42 ± 0.01 mg ml-1and IC50(free21molecule): 5.74 ± 3.82 mg ml-1against MCF-7 cells, and as IC50(21-loaded PLGA nanoparticles): 0.77 ± 0.12 mg ml-1and IC50(free21molecule): 1.32 ± 0.31 mg ml-1against HeLa cells after the incubation period of 24 h. Our findings indicated that triazole-substituted coumarins may be used as an anticancer agent by integrating them into a polymeric drug delivery system providing improved drug loading and effective controlled drug release.

Podophyllotoxin: Recent Advances in the Development of Hybridization Strategies to Enhance Its Antitumoral Profile

Podophyllotoxin is a naturally occurring cyclolignan isolated from rhizomes of Podophyllum sp. In the clinic, it is used mainly as an antiviral; however, its antitumor activity is even more interesting. While podophyllotoxin possesses severe side effects that limit its development as an anticancer agent, nevertheless, it has become a good lead compound for the synthesis of derivatives with fewer side effects and better selectivity. Several examples, such as etoposide, highlight the potential of this natural product for chemomodulation in the search for new antitumor agents. This review focuses on the recent chemical modifications (2017-mid-2023) of the podophyllotoxin skeleton performed mainly at the C-ring (but also at the lactone D-ring and at the trimethoxyphenyl E-ring) together with their biological properties. Special emphasis is placed on hybrids or conjugates with other natural products (either primary or secondary metabolites) and other molecules (heterocycles, benzoheterocycles, synthetic drugs, and other moieties) that contribute to improved podophyllotoxin bioactivity. In fact, hybridization has been a good strategy to design podophyllotoxin derivatives with enhanced bioactivity. The way in which the two components are joined (directly or through spacers) was also considered for the organization of this review. This comprehensive perspective is presented with the aim of guiding the medicinal chemistry community in the design of new podophyllotoxin-based drugs with improved anticancer properties.

Anticancer effect of umbelliferone on MKN-45 and MIA PaCa-2 cell lines

In this study, the anticancer activity of umbelliferone (7-hydroxycoumarin-UMB) was investigated in MKN-45 human gastric cancer and MIA PaCa-2 human pancreatic cancer cells. The cytotoxic effect of UMB on MKN-45 and MIA PaCa-2 cells was determined by WST-8 cell viability assay; the effect on colony formation and migration potential by colony forming assay and wound healing/cell migration assay. Apoptotic effect of UMB was determined by measuring the change in mitochondrial membrane potentials, reactive oxygen species levels, and Caspase-3 activities in cells. Anticancer drugs cisplatin and gemcitabine were used as positive controls in experiments, and NIH/Swiss 3 T3 mouse embryonic fibroblast cells were used as a healthy cell group. The results of this study showed that umbelliferone had a significant cytotoxic effect in MKN-45 and MIA PaCa-2 cells, especially after 72 h treatment, while its cytotoxic effect in NIH/3 T3 cells was low. Furthermore, UMB reduces significantly the potential of cells to colonize and migrate; it has been determined that it causes apoptosis by decreasing the mitochondrial membrane potential, increasing intracellular ROS levels and Caspase-3 activity. UMB was found to have more anticancer effect on MIA PaCa-2 cells compared to MKN-45 cells. This showed that UMB has a cell-selective effect.

Design of Novel Coumarin Derivatives as NUDT5 Antagonists That Act by Restricting ATP Synthesis in Breast Cancer Cells

Breast cancer, a heterogeneous disease, is among the most frequently diagnosed diseases and is the second leading cause of death due to cancer among women after lung cancer. Phytoactives (plant-based derivatives) and their derivatives are safer than synthetic compounds in combating chemoresistance. In the current work, a template-based design of the coumarin derivative was designed to target the ADP-sugar pyrophosphatase protein. The novel coumarin derivative (2R)-2-((S)-sec-butyl)-5-oxo-4-(2-oxochroman-4-yl)-2,5-dihydro-1H-pyrrol-3-olate was designed. Molecular docking studies provided a docking score of -6.574 kcal/mol and an MM-GBSA value of -29.15 kcal/mol. Molecular dynamics simulation studies were carried out for 500 ns, providing better insights into the interaction. An RMSD change of 2.4 Å proved that there was a stable interaction and that there was no conformational change induced to the receptor. Metadynamics studies were performed to calculate the unbinding energy of the principal compound with NUDT5, which was found to be -75.171 kcal/mol. In vitro validation via a cytotoxicity assay (MTT assay) of the principal compound was carried out with quercetin as a positive control in the MCF7 cell line and with an IC₅₀ value of 55.57 (+/-) 0.7 μg/mL. This work promoted the research of novel natural derivatives to discover their anticancer activity.

Synthesis, Bioactivity, Pharmacokinetic and Biomimetic Properties of Multi-Substituted Coumarin Derivatives

A series of novel multi-substituted coumarin derivatives were synthesized, spectroscopically characterized, and evaluated for their antioxidant activity, soybean lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitory ability, their influence on cell viability in immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT), and cytotoxicity in adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549) and human melanoma (A375) cells, in vitro. Coumarin analogues 4a-4f, bearing a hydroxyl group at position 5 of the coumarin scaffold and halogen substituents at the 3-phenyl ring, were the most promising ABTS•+ scavengers. 6,8-Dibromo-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4-methyl-chromen-2-one (4k) and 6-bromo-3-(4,5-diacetyloxyphenyl)-4-methyl-chromen-2-one (3m) exhibited significant lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity (IC50 36.9 and 37.1 μM). In the DCF-DA assay, the 4'-fluoro-substituted compound 3f (100%), and the 6-bromo substituted compounds 3i (80.9%) and 4i (100%) presented the highest activity. The 3'-fluoro-substituted coumarins 3e and 4e, along with 3-(4-acetyloxyphenyl)-6,8-dibromo-4-methyl-chromen-2-one (3k), were the most potent lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitors (IC50 11.4, 4.1, and 8.7 μM, respectively) while displaying remarkable hydroxyl radical scavenging ability, 85.2%, 100%, and 92.9%, respectively. In silico docking studies of compounds 4e and 3k, revealed that they present allosteric interactions with the enzyme. The majority of the analogues (100 μΜ) did not affect the cell viability of HaCaT cells, though several compounds presented over 60% cytotoxicity in A549 or A375 cells. Finally, the human oral absorption (%HOA) and plasma protein binding (%PPB) properties of the synthesized coumarins were also estimated using biomimetic chromatography, and all compounds presented high %HOA (>99%) and %PPB (60-97%) values.

Manufacturing drug co-loaded liposomal formulations targeting breast cancer: Influence of preparative method on liposomes characteristics and in vitro toxicity

Developing more efficient manufacturing methods for nano therapeutic systems is becoming important, not only to better control their physico-chemical characteristics and therapeutic efficacy but also to ensure scale-up is cost-effective. The principle of cross-flow chemistry allows precise control over manufacturing parameters for the fabrication of uniform liposomal formulations, as well as providing reproducible manufacturing scale-up compared to conventional methods. We have herein investigated the use of microfluidics to produce PEGylated DSPC liposomes loaded with doxorubicin and compared their performance against identical formulations prepared by the thin-film method. The isoprenylated coumarin umbelliprenin was selected as a co-therapeutic. Umbelliprenin-loaded and doxorubicin:umbelliprenin co-loaded liposomes were fabricated using the optimised microfluidic set-up. The role of umbelliprenin as lipid bilayer fluidity modulation was characterized, and we investigated its role on liposomes size, size distribution, shape and stability compared to doxorubicin-loaded liposomes. Finally, the toxicity of all liposomal formulations was tested on a panel of human breast cancer cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB 231, BT-474) to identify the most potent formulation by liposomal fabrication method and loaded compound(s). We herein show that the microfluidic system is an alternative method to produce doxorubicin:umbelliprenin co-loaded liposomes, allowing fine control over liposome size (100-250 nm), shape, uniformity and doxorubicin drug loading (>80%). Umbelliprenin was shown to confer fluidity to model lipid biomembranes, which helps to explain the more homogeneous size and shape of co-loaded liposomes compared to liposomes without umbelliprenin. The toxicity of doxorubicin:umbelliprenin co-loaded liposomes was lower than that of free doxorubicin, due to the delayed release of doxorubicin from liposomes. An alternative, rapid and easy manufacturing method for the production of liposomes has been established using microfluidics to effectively produce uniform doxorubicin:umbelliprenin co-loaded liposomal formulations with proven cytotoxicity in human breast cancer cell lines in vitro.