Enrichment of novel quinazoline derivatives with high antitumor activity in mitochondria tracked by its self-fluorescence

6-Bromo quinazoline derivatives as cytotoxic agents: design, synthesis, molecular docking and MD simulation

Based on unselectively, several side effects and drug resistance of available anticancer agents, the development and research for novel anticancer agents is necessary. In this study, a new series of quinazoline-4(3H)-one derivatives having a thiol group at position 2 of the quinazoline ring (8a-8 h) were designed and synthesized as potential anticancer agents. The Chemical structures of all compounds were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and Mass spectroscopy. The antiproliferative activity of all derivatives were determined against two cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and SW480) and one normal cell lines (MRC-5) by the MTT method. Cisplatin, Erlotinib and Doxorubicin were used as positive controls. The results of in vitro screening showed that 8a with an aliphatic linker to SH group was the most potent compound with IC50 values of 15.85 ± 3.32 and 17.85 ± 0.92 µM against MCF-7 and SW480 cell lines, respectively. 8a indicated significantly better potency compared to Erlotinib in the MCF-7 cell line. The cytotoxic results obtained from testing compound 8a on the normal cell line, revealing an IC50 value of 84.20 ± 1.72 µM, provide compelling evidence of its selectivity in distinguishing between tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cell lines. Structure-activity relationship indicated that the variation in the anticancer activities of quinazoline-4(3H)-one derivatives was affected by different substitutions on the SH position. Molecular docking and MD simulation were carried out for consideration of the binding affinity of compounds against EGFR and EGFR-mutated. The binding energy of compounds 8a and 8c were calculated at -6.7 and - 5.3 kcal.mol- 1, respectively. Compounds 8a and 8c were found to establish hydrogen bonds and some other important interactions with key residue. The DFT analysis was also performed at the B3LYP/6-31 + G(d, p) level for compounds 8a, 8c and Erlotinib. Compound 8a was thermodynamically more stable than 8c. Also, the calculated theoretical and experimental data for the IR spectrum were in agreement. The obtained results delineated that the 8a can be considered an appropriate pharmacophore to develop as an anti-proliferative agent.

Reduction-sensitive polymeric carrier for the targeted delivery of a quinazoline derivative for enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species against cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest malignant tumors and the development of effective therapeutics against HCC is urgently needed. A novel quinazoline derivative 04NB-03 (Qd04) has been proved to be highly effective against HCC without obvious toxic side-effects. However, the poor water solubility and low bioavailability in vivo severely limit its clinical application. In addition, Qd04 kills tumor cells by inducing an accumulation of endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is highly impeded by the overexpression of glutathione (GSH) in tumor cells. Herein, we designed a disulfide cross-linked polyamino acid micelle to deliver Qd04 for HCC therapy. The disulfide linkage not only endowed a tumor-targeted delivery of Qd04 by responding to tumor cell GSH but also depleted GSH to achieve increased levels of ROS generation, which improved the therapeutic efficiency of Qd04. Both in vitro and in vivo results demonstrated that the synthesized nanodrug exerted good anti-hepatoma effects, which provided a potential application for HCC therapy in clinics.

Time-resolved spectroscopic and computational study of the initial events in doxazosin photochemistry

Doxazosin is a quinazoline derivative widely used in medicine as a drug. In this study, a combined experimental and computational approach based on the time-dependent density functional theory was used to elucidate the primary events following the photoexcitation of DOX upon interaction with light. The photophysical properties and photochemical reactivity of DOX were investigated by steady-state and time-resolved absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. DOX in H2O in S0 is present in two prototropic forms, with the protonated form dominating (∼91 %, pKa = 6.75). The computations indicated that the most basic quinazoline nitrogen is at the position 1. Upon excitation, DOX deprotonates in the singlet excited state (pKa* = 1.31), and the decay times from the singlet excited state of 5 ns and 13 ns are attributed to the non-protonated and protonated forms of DOX, respectively. The quantum yield of fluorescence in H2O is 0.51 and 0.64 in basic media. The quantum yield of intersystem crossing along with triplet-triplet molar absorption coefficient at 520 nm and the lifetime of the triplet excited state were obtained by LFP, ΦISC = 0.17, ε520 = 11600 ± 100 M-1 cm-1 and τ = 11 μs, respectively. Furthermore, LFP enabled detection of DOX radical formed by the photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer from the benzodioxane-carbamoyl to the protonated aminoquinazoline. Computations were used to back up the assignments of the detected transients and to construct an energy diagram with all plausible photophysical and photochemical pathways. These results elucidated the mechanisms of DOX photochemistry leading to DOX photodegradation which is relevant to environmental studies. They also provided insights into the potential use of such a quinazoline derivative in other applications such as push-pull chromophores or fluorescent probes.

What Zebrafish and Nanotechnology Can Offer for Cancer Treatments in the Age of Personalized Medicine

Cancer causes millions of deaths each year and thus urgently requires the development of new therapeutic strategies. Nanotechnology-based anticancer therapies are a promising approach, with several formulations already approved and in clinical use. The evaluation of these therapies requires efficient in vivo models to study their behavior and interaction with cancer cells, and to optimize their properties to ensure maximum efficacy and safety. In this way, zebrafish is an important candidate due to its high homology with the human genoma, its large offspring, and the ease in developing specific cancer models. The role of zebrafish as a model for anticancer therapy studies has been highly evidenced, allowing researchers not only to perform drug screenings but also to evaluate novel therapies such as immunotherapies and nanotherapies. Beyond that, zebrafish can be used as an “avatar” model for performing patient-derived xenografts for personalized medicine. These characteristics place zebrafish in an attractive position as a role model for evaluating novel therapies for cancer treatment, such as nanomedicine.

Synthesis and Structure-Photophysics Evaluation of 2-N-Amino-quinazolines: Small Molecule Fluorophores for Solution and Solid State

2-N-aminoquinazolines were prepared by consecutive S_N Ar functionalization. X-ray structures display the nitrogen lone pair of the 2-N-morpholino group in conjugation with the electron deficient quinazoline core and thus representing electronic push-pull systems. 2-N-aminoquinazolines show a positive solvatochromism and are fluorescent in solution and in solid state with quantum yields up to 0.73. Increase in electron donor strength of the 2-amino substituent causes a red-shift of the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) band (300-400 nm); whereas the photoluminescence emission maxima (350-450 nm) is also red-shifted significantly along with an enhancement in photoluminescence efficiency. HOMO-LUMO energies were estimated by a combination of electrochemical and photophysical methods and correlate well to those obtained by computational methods. ICT properties are theoretically attributed to an excitation to Rydberg-MO in SAC-CI method, which can be interpreted as n-π* excitation. 7-Amino-2-N-morpholino-4-methoxyquinazoline responds to acidic conditions with significant increases in photoluminescence intensity revealing a new turn-on/off fluorescence probe.

Fe3O4@Sap/Cu(ii): an efficient magnetically recoverable green nanocatalyst for the preparation of acridine and quinazoline derivatives in aqueous media at room temperature

Saponin, as a green and available phytochemical, was immobilized on the surface of magnetite nanoparticles then doped with Cu ions (Fe3O4@Sap/Cu(ii)) and used as an efficient nanocatalyst for the synthesis of quinazoline and acridine derivatives, due to their high application and importance in various fields of science. Different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques were used for the catalyst characterization such as FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, TEM, TGA, VSM, BET, DLS, CV, and XPS analyses. All characterization data were correlated with each other so that the structure of the catalyst was accurately characterized. The reactions were performed in the presence of a low amount of Fe3O4@Sap/Cu(ii) (0.42 mol%) as a green catalyst in water over a short period of time. The results show well the effective role of saponin in solving the problem of mass transfer in aqueous medium, which is the challenge of many organic reactions in aqueous medium and in the presence of heterogeneous medium. High catalytic activity was found for the catalyst and high to excellent efficiency was obtained for all quinazoline (68-94% yield) and acridine (66-97% yield) derivatives in short reaction times (less than 1 hour) under mild reaction conditions in the absence of any hazardous or expensive materials. There is not any noticeable by-product found whether for acridine or quinazoline derivatives, which reflects the high selectivity. Two reasonable mechanisms were proposed for the reactions based on observations from control experiments as well as literature reports. The catalyst could be easily recovered magnetically for at least six consecutive runs with insignificant reactivity loss.

Synthesis of N-2(5H)-furanonyl sulfonyl hydrazone derivatives and their biological evaluation in vitro and in vivo activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells

A series of (E)-N-2(5H)-furanonyl sulfonyl hydrazone derivatives have been rationally designed and efficiently synthesized by one-pot reaction with good yields for the first time. This green approach with wide substrate range and good selectivity can be achieved at room temperature in a short time in the presence of metal-free catalyst. The cytotoxic activities against three human cancer cell lines of all newly obtained compounds have been evaluated by MTT assay. Among them, compound 5 k exhibits high cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 human breast cancer cells with an IC₅₀ value of 14.35 μM. The cytotoxic mechanism may involve G2/M phase arrest pathway, which is probably caused by activating DNA damage. Comet test and immunofluorescence results show that compound 5 k can induce DNA damage in time- and dose-dependent manner. Importantly, 5 k also can effectively inhibit the proliferation of MCF-7 cells and angiogenesis in the zebrafish xenograft model. It is potential to further develop N-2(5H)-furanonyl sulfonyl hydrazone derivatives as potent drugs for breast cancer treatment with higher cytotoxic activity by modifying the structure of the compound.

Synthesis and Antiproliferative Activities of Novel Substituted 5-Anilino-α-Glucofuranose Derivatives

In order to find novel antitumor candidate agents with high efficiency and low toxicity, 14 novel substituted 5-anilino-α-glucofuranose derivatives have been designed, synthesized and evaluated for antiproliferative activities in vitro. Their structures were characterized by NMR (¹ H and ¹³ C) and HR-MS, and configuration (R/S) at C(5) was identified by two-dimensional ¹ H,¹ H-NOESY-NMR spectrum. Their antiproliferative activities against human tumor cells were investigated by MTT assay. The results demonstrated that most of the synthesized compounds had antiproliferative effects comparable to the reference drugs gefitinib and lapatinib. In particular, (5R)-5-O-(3-chloro-4-{[5-(4-fluorophenyl)thiophen-2-yl]methyl}anilino)-5-deoxy-1,2-O-(1-methylethylidene)-α-glucofuranose (9da) showed the most potent antiproliferative effects against SW480, A431 and A549 cells, with IC₅₀ values of 8.57, 5.15 and 15.24 μm, respectively. This work suggested 5-anilino-α-glucofuranose as an antitumor core structure that may open a new way to develop more potent anti-cancer agents.

A Review on Recent Advances in Nitrogen-Containing Molecules and Their Biological Applications

The analogs of nitrogen-based heterocycles occupy an exclusive position as a valuable source of therapeutic agents in medicinal chemistry. More than 75% of drugs approved by the FDA and currently available in the market are nitrogen-containing heterocyclic moieties. In the forthcoming decade, a much greater share of new nitrogen-based pharmaceuticals is anticipated. Many new nitrogen-based heterocycles have been designed. The number of novel N-heterocyclic moieties with significant physiological properties and promising applications in medicinal chemistry is ever-growing. In this review, we consolidate the recent advances on novel nitrogen-containing heterocycles and their distinct biological activities, reported over the past one year (2019 to early 2020). This review highlights the trends in the use of nitrogen-based moieties in drug design and the development of different potent and competent candidates against various diseases.

Differential roles of protease isoforms in the tumor microenvironment

Alternative splicing of precursor mRNA is a key mediator of gene expression regulation leading to greater diversity of the proteome in complex organisms. Systematic sequencing of the human genome and transcriptome has led to our understanding of how alternative splicing of critical genes leads to multiple pathological conditions such as cancer. For many years, proteases were known only for their roles as proteolytic enzymes, acting to regulate/process proteins associated with diverse cellular functions. However, the differential expression and altered function of various protease isoforms, such as (i) anti-apoptotic activities, (ii) mediating intercellular adhesion, and (iii) modifying the extracellular matrix, are evidence of their specific contribution towards shaping the tumor microenvironment. Revealing the alternative splicing of protease genes and characterization of their protein products/isoforms with distinct and opposing functions creates a platform to understand how protease isoforms contribute to specific cancer hallmarks. Here, in this review, we address cancer-specific isoforms produced by the alternative splicing of proteases and their distinctive roles in the tumor microenvironment.

Multifloroside Suppressing Proliferation and Colony Formation, Inducing S Cell Cycle Arrest, ROS Production, and Increasing MMP in Human Epidermoid Carcinoma Cell Lines A431

Multifloroside (4), together with 10-hydroxyoleoside 11-methyl ester (1), 10-hydroxyoleoside dimethyl ester (2), and 10-hydroxyligustroside (3), are all secoiridoids, which are naturally occurring compounds that possess a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities. However, the anti-cancer activity of 1–4 has not been evaluated yet. The objective of this work was to study the anti-cancer activities of 1–4 in the human epidermoid carcinoma cell lines A431 and the human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines A549. The results indicate that 1–4 differ in potency in their ability to inhibit the proliferation of human A431 and A549 cells, and multifloroside (4) display the highest inhibitory activity against A431 cells. The structure-activity relationships suggest that the o-hydroxy-p-hydroxy-phenylethyl group may contribute to the anti-cancer activity against A431 cells. Multifloroside treatment can also inhibit cell colony formation, arrest the cell cycle in the S-phase, increase the levels of reactive-oxygen-species (ROS), and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), but it did not significantly induce cell apoptosis at low concentrations. The findings indicated that multifloroside (4) has the tendency to show selective anti-cancer effects in A431 cells, along with suppressing the colony formation, inducing S cell cycle arrest, ROS production, and increasing MMP.