Benzothiazole carbamates and amides as antiproliferative species

Modeling of cancer stem cells and the tumor microenvironment Via NT2/D1 cells to probe pathology and treatment for cancer and beyond

INTRODUCTION

Unique from the other tumor cells, tumorigenic cancer stem cells (CSCs) manifest as a subpopulation of cells within the tumor that exhibit genetic and phenotypic features and signaling processes, which escape traditional anti-oncogenic treatments, thereby triggering metastases and relapses of cancers. Critical to cancer biology is the crosstalk between CSCs and tumor microenvironment (TME), implicating a CSC-based cancer immunotherapy. Cognizant of CSCs' significant role in cancer pathology and treatment, finding a biological model that recapitulates CSCs and TME may allow a better understanding of tumor onset and progression for testing CSC-based therapies. In this review paper, we examined the CSC and TME characteristics of the human embryonal carcinoma NTERA-2 clonal cell line called NTERA-2 cl.D1 or NT2/D1 cells and discussed their potential utility for research and development of treatments for cancer and central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

METHODS

To probe our hypotheses that NT2/D1 cells display CSC and TME properties key to tumor development, which can serve as a screening platform to test cancer and CNS therapeutics, we conducted a literature review over a 10-year period (2014-2024), focusing on PUBMED and Science Direct published articles on cellular models of cancer, with emphasis on milestone research discoveries on NT2/D1 cells relevant to CSCs and TME. We categorized the studies under pre-clinical and clinical investigations in supporting the existence of CSC and TME features in NT2/D1 cells and providing a laboratory-to-clinic translational basis for cancer and CNS therapeutics.

CONCLUSIONS

NT2/D1 cells stand as a feasible biological model that recapitulates the crosstalk of CSCs and TME, which may critically contribute to our understanding of cancer and CNS biology and therapeutics. Designing therapeutics against CSCs' distinct self-renewal and differentiation capacities within the TME opens new avenues for treating cancers and CNS disorders.

Fe3O4@SiO2-DHB/DI(S-NH)-Pd(0) nanocomposite: a novel, efficient, and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for carbonylative preparation of N-aryl amides

N-aryl amides hold significant importance in organic chemistry due to their widespread presence in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and various bioactive compounds. As a result, catalysts and preparation methodologies for amide derivatives have long been a target of active investigation of interest. In the current work, a simple and accessible route was adopted for preparation of a magnetic catalyst [Fe3O4@SiO2-DHB/DI(S-NH)-Pd (0)] and then its catalysis in three-component amide synthesis via carbonylation reaction between aryl iodides and amines was examined. In experiments, its efficiency in producing a range of amides with high yields in a short and under mild conditions was unequivocally confirmed, and its efficiency in producing a range of amides with high yields in a short and under mild conditions was confirmed unequivocally through experiments. High yields of the desired compound ease in catalyst separation, high reusability of catalysts, mild reaction conditions, ease in accommodation of a range of substrates, and a thorough analysis for determination of the catalyst and produced compounds for characterization and purification have been taken as key features of this work.

Anoikis resistance--protagonists of breast cancer cells survive and metastasize after ECM detachment

Breast cancer exhibits the highest global incidence among all tumor types. Regardless of the type of breast cancer, metastasis is a crucial cause of poor prognosis. Anoikis, a form of apoptosis initiated by cell detachment from the native environment, is an outside-in process commencing with the disruption of cytosolic connectors such as integrin-ECM and cadherin-cell. This disruption subsequently leads to intracellular cytoskeletal and signaling pathway alterations, ultimately activating caspases and initiating programmed cell death. Development of an anoikis-resistant phenotype is a critical initial step in tumor metastasis. Breast cancer employs a series of stromal alterations to suppress anoikis in cancer cells. Comprehensive investigation of anoikis resistance mechanisms can inform strategies for preventing and regressing metastatic breast cancer. The present review first outlines the physiological mechanisms of anoikis, elucidating the alterations in signaling pathways, cytoskeleton, and protein targets that transpire from the outside in upon adhesion loss in normal breast cells. The specific anoikis resistance mechanisms induced by pathological changes in various spatial structures during breast cancer development are also discussed. Additionally, the genetic loci of targets altered in the development of anoikis resistance in breast cancer, are summarized. Finally, the micro-RNAs and targeted drugs reported in the literature concerning anoikis are compiled, with keratocin being the most functionally comprehensive. Video Abstract.

Rosline promotes p21 expression to inhibit ovarian cancer cell proliferation via p53-independent pathway

AIM

To investigate the effect of benzothiazole derivatives (Rosline) on ovarian cancer and the potential mechanism.

METHODS

Ovarian cancer tissues were collected clinically and immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of p53 and p21. Ovarian cancer cells were exposed to 0, 2.5, 5, 10 μmol/L Rosline for 24 h. 100 nmol/L Pifithrin-α pre-incubation was used to inhibit the transcriptional activity of p53. CCK-8 and BrdU assays were used to detect the effects of different concentrations of rosline on the proliferation and cell cycle of OVCAR420 and SKOV3 cells. Flow cytometry assay was used to detect cell cycle. The transcriptional and translational expression of p21 and p53 were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot.

RESULTS

p21 was expressed in ovarian cancer tissues without p53 expression. Rosline inhibits the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells and blocks the cell cycle progression. Meanwhile, Rosline promotes p21 expression in ovarian cancer cells at both mRNA and protein levels, but with no significant effect on p53 expression. Besides, Rosline promotes p21 expression, inhibits cell proliferation, and blocks the cell cycle via the p53-independent pathway.

CONCLUSION

Rosline promoted p21 expression thereby inhibiting cell proliferation and blocks the cell cycle via p53-independent pathway.

2-Aminobenzothiazoles in anticancer drug design and discovery

Cancer is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Substantial research efforts have been made to develop new chemical entities with improved anticancer efficacy. 2-Aminobenzothiazole is an important class of heterocycles containing one sulfur and two nitrogen atoms, which is associated with a broad spectrum of medical and pharmacological activities, including antitumor, antibacterial, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral activities. In recent years, an extraordinary collection of potent and low-toxicity 2-aminobenzothiazole compounds have been discovered as new anticancer agents. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review of this class of compounds based on their activities against tumor-related proteins, including tyrosine kinases (CSF1R, EGFR, VEGFR-2, FAK, and MET), serine/threonine kinases (Aurora, CDK, CK, RAF, and DYRK2), PI3K kinase, BCL-XL, HSP90, mutant p53 protein, DNA topoisomerase, HDAC, NSD1, LSD1, FTO, mPGES-1, SCD, hCA IX/XII, and CXCR. In addition, the anticancer potentials of 2-aminobenzothiazole-derived chelators and metal complexes are also described here. Moreover, the design strategies, mechanism of actions, structure-activity relationships (SAR) and more advanced stages of pre-clinical development of 2-aminobenzothiazoles as new anticancer agents are extensively reviewed in this article. Finally, the examples that 2-aminobenzothiazoles showcase an advantage over other heterocyclic systems are also highlighted.

2-substituted benzothiazoles as antiproliferative agents: Novel insights on structure-activity relationships

Given the wide spectrum of biological activities, benzothiazoles represent privileged scaffolds in medicinal chemistry, useful in drug discovery programs to modulate biological activities of lead compounds. A large body of knowledge about benzothiazoles has been reported in scientific literature, describing their antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative effects. This review summarizes the results obtained in the structure-activity relationship studies on antiproliferative benzothiazoles, focusing on 2-substituted derivatives and on mechanism of action responsible for the antitumor effects of this class of compounds.