Synthesis and biological evaluation of dimeric cinnamaldehydes as potent antitumor agents

Cinnamaldehyde-Rich Cinnamon Extract Induces Cell Death in Colon Cancer Cell Lines HCT 116 and HT-29

Cinnamon is a natural spice with a wide range of pharmacological functions, including anti-microbial, antioxidant, and anti-tumor activities. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of cinnamaldehyde-rich cinnamon extract (CRCE) on the colorectal cancer cell lines HCT 116 and HT-29. The gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis of a lipophilic extract of cinnamon revealed the dominance of trans-cinnamaldehyde. Cells treated with CRCE (10-60 µg/mL) showed significantly decreased cell viability in a time- and dose-dependent manner. We also observed that cell proliferation and migration capacity were inhibited in CRCE-treated cells. In addition, a remarkable increase in the number of sub-G₁-phase cells was observed with arrest at the G₂ phase by CRCE treatment. CRCE also induced mitochondrial stress, and finally, CRCE treatment resulted in activation of apoptotic proteins Caspase-3, -9, and PARP and decreased levels of mu-2-related death-inducing gene protein expression with BH3-interacting domain death agonist (BID) activation.

A Comprehensive Overview of the Developments of Cdc25 Phosphatase Inhibitors

Cdc25 phosphatases have been considered promising targets for anticancer development due to the correlation of their overexpression with a wide variety of cancers. In the last two decades, the interest in this subject has considerably increased and many publications have been launched concerning this issue. An overview is constructed based on data analysis of the results of the previous publications covering the years from 1992 to 2021. Thus, the main objective of the current review is to report the chemical structures of Cdc25s inhibitors and answer the question, how to design an inhibitor with better efficacy and lower toxicity?

How the ascorbic acid and hesperidin do improve the biological activities of the cinnamon: theoretical investigation

DFT/B3LYP calculations have been performed on series of molecules of natural products containing cinnamon and citrus, namely, cinnamic aldehyd, ascorbic acid and hesperidin. This theoretical investigation predicts the biological activities of mixtures between cinnamon and ascorbic acid and between cinnamon and hesperidin based on already proven values for these molecules. The strength of the intermolecular interactions is evaluated in term of energy decomposition of the total interaction energy ΔE _int between molecules, which are mainly governed by electrostatic interactions. The HOMO-LUMO gaps explain that the possible charge transfer interactions that take place within the molecules are responsible for the molecular reactivity of the studied molecules. The chemical hardness, the chemical potential and the electrophilicity indexes are good indicators for biological activities showing their improvement to that of cinnamon itself. The mixture of hesperidin and cinnamon could be an excellent blood thinner with the regard to its polarity's enhancement.

A review of cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives as antibacterial agents

There is a continuing rise in the occurrence of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance to currently available antibiotics has become a global health issue leading to an urgent need for alternative antibacterial strategies. There has been a renewed interest in the development of antibacterial agents from natural sources, and trans-cinnamaldehyde is an example of a naturally occurring compound that has received significant attention in recent years. Trans-Cinnamaldehyde has been shown to possess substantial antimicrobial activity, as well as an array of other medicinal properties, and represents an intriguing hit compound from which a number of derivatives have been developed. In some cases, these derivatives have been shown to possess improved activity, not only compared to trans-cinnamaldehyde but also to commonly used antibiotics. Therefore, understanding the antibacterial mechanisms of action that these compounds elicit is imperative in order to facilitate their development and the development of new antibacterial agents that could exploit similar mechanistic approaches. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of current knowledge on the antibacterial activity and mechanisms of action of cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives, and to highlight significant contributions made in this research area. It is hoped that the findings presented in this work will aid the future development of new antibacterial agents.

Anti-cancer effects of cinnamon: Insights into its apoptosis effects

Cancer is known as a leading cause of death worldwide. In the last two decades, the incidence of cancer has been dramatically increased mostly due to lifestyle changes. The importance of this issue has attracted further attention to discover novel therapies to prevent and treat cancers. According to previous studies, drugs used to treat cancer have shown significant limitations. Therefore, the role of herbal medicines alone or in combination with chemotherapy drugs has been extensively studied in cancer treatment. Cinnamon is a natural component showing a wide range of pharmacological functions including anti-oxidant, anti-microbial and anti-cancer activities. Impaired apoptosis plays critical roles in the initiation and progression of cancer. Increasing evidence indicates that cinnamon, as a therapeutic agent, has anti-cancer effects via affecting numerous apoptosis-related pathways in cancer cells. Here, we highlighted anticancer properties of cinnamon, particularly through targeting apoptosis-related mechanisms.

Cinnamaldehydes in Cancer Chemotherapy

Cinnamaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde-derived compounds are candidates for the development of anticancer drugs that have received extensive research attention. In this review, we summarize recent findings detailing the positive and negative aspects of cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives as potential anticancer drug candidates. Furthermore, we describe the in vivo pharmacokinetics and metabolism of cinnamaldehydes. The oxidative and antioxidative properties of cinnamaldehydes, which contribute to their potential in chemotherapy, have also been discussed. Moreover, the mechanism(s) by which cinnamaldehydes induce apoptosis in cancer cells have been explored. In addition, evidence of the regulatory effects of cinnamaldehydes on cancer cell invasion and metastasis has been described. Finally, the application of cinnamaldehydes in treating various types of cancer, including breast, prostate, and colon cancers, has been discussed in detail. The effects of cinnamaldehydes on leukemia, hepatocellular carcinoma, and oral cancer have been summarized briefly. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Alpha-substituted derivatives of cinnamaldehyde as tyrosinase inhibitors: inhibitory mechanism and molecular analysis

Alpha-substituted derivatives of cinnamaldehyde (alpha-bromocinnamaldehyde, alpha-chlorocinnamaldehyde, and alpha-methylcinnamaldehyde) were used as inhibitors on mushroom tyrosinase. The result showed that three compounds can reduce both monophenolase and diphenolase activity on tyrosinase, and the inhibition was reversible. The IC50 values of alpha-bromocinnamaldehyde, alpha-chlorocinnamaldehyde, and alpha-methylcinnamaldehyde were 0.075, 0.140, and 0.440 mM on monophenolase and 0.049, 0.110, and 0.450 mM on diphenolase, respectively. The inhibition types and constants on diphenolase for these inhibitors were further studied. The molecular inhibition mechanisms of tyrosinase by the derivatives were investigated by UV-scanning study, fluorescence quenching, and molecular docking. These assays demonstrated that the derivatives could decrease the formation of o-quinones, and all derivatives were static quenchers of mushroom tyrosinase. Docking results implied that they could not form metal interactions with the copper ions of the enzyme, whereas they could interact with the amino acid residues of active site center. This research on alpha-substituted derivatives of cinnamaldehyde as tyrosinase inhibitors would lead to advances in the field of antityrosinase.

Inhibitors of Cdc25 phosphatases as anticancer agents: a patent review

IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD

The cell division cycle 25 (Cdc25) family of proteins are highly conserved dual specificity phosphatases that regulate cyclin-dependent kinases, the main gatekeepers of the eukaryotic cell division cycle. The three isoforms of Cdc25, including Cdc25A, Cdc25B and Cdc25C, appear to act on different cyclin-dependent kinase/cyclin complexes at different stages of the cell cycle. Overexpression of Cdc25A and/or Cdc25B, but not Cdc25C, has been detected in numerous cancers and is often correlated with a poor clinical prognosis. Thus, inhibition of these phosphatases may represent a promising therapeutic approach in oncology.

AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW

The main focus of the present review is to describe the development of Cdc25 inhibitors over the years. We describe different compounds according to the decade of discovery and focus attention on molecules that were published in patents.

WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN

Insight into the most clinically relevant therapeutic Cdc25 analogues that have been published in over 40 patents over the past 19 years.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

Some Cdc25 inhibitors have suppressed in vivo the growth of human tumor xenografts in animals; this confirmed the validity of using Cdc25 phosphatase inhibition as an anticancer strategy, but side effects and toxicity remain to be investigated.

Controlling the conformational changes in donor-acceptor [4]-dendralenes through intramolecular charge-transfer processes

The synthesis of two [4]-dendralene compounds incorporating thiophene-(p-nitrophenyl) donor-acceptor units is presented. The dendralenes adopt two different conformers in solution and solid state and the transformation between the structures can be controlled by light and heat. The electron-donating components of the dendralenes are represented by bromothienyl (in 13) and ethylenedioxythiophene(EDOT)-thienyl (in 15) end-groups. The most facile transformation involves the isomerisation of donor-acceptor conjugated systems (a conformers) into structures in which only the thiophenes are conjugated (b conformers), and this process is driven by ambient light. The structures of the two conformers of compound 13 are confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies and the structural changes in both compounds have been monitored by 1H NMR spectroscopy and absorption studies. The transformations were found to be first-order processes with rate constants of k=0.0027 s(-1) and k=0.00022 s(-1) for 13 and 15, respectively. Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level give credence to the proposed mechanism for the a-->b conversion, which involves photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) as the key step. The EDOT derivative (15) can be polymerised by electrochemical oxidation and a combination of cyclic voltammetry and UV/Vis spectroelectrochemical experiments indicate that the a conformer can be trapped and stabilised in the solid state.

CDC25B: relationship with angiogenesis and prognosis in non–small cell lung carcinoma

The CDC25 phosphatases are cell cycle regulators known to play an important role in cancer cell growth. Increased expression of CDC25B has been reported in tumors of different tissue origins, including non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). We analyzed primary tumors and corresponding healthy lung tissues from 177 patients with NSCLC for relative expression levels of CDC25B by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, with the dual aims of investigating the relationships between CDC25B expression and angiogenesis as well as prognosis. Eighty-one (45.76%) of the 177 patients with NSCLC overexpressed the CDC25B gene; there was no significant difference in CDC25B expression among sex, age, T or N status, or clinical stages of NSCLC. Concerning the possible involvement of CDC25B in angiogenesis, high expression of CDC25B correlated with positive expression of endothelin-1 (chi(2) test; P = .0002), one of the major angiogenic factors in NSCLC. A significant association was also found with the number of intratumoral microvessels (chi(2) test; P = .03). Statistical analysis of survival data revealed that elevated CDC25B expression was significantly associated with shorter survival in terms of both overall survival and disease-free interval (P = .04 for both), maintaining its independent prognostic role in a Cox proportional hazards model (P = .009). A rich and varied engagement of many cellular pathways could cause or maintain a cancer; our study may offer insights into these mechanisms in lung cancer, suggesting that CDC25B might play an important role in the angiogenic process and in determining the prognosis of patients with NSCLC.