Recent Advances in β-lactam Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents

Cancer, accounts for around 10 million deaths annually, is the second leading cause of death globally. The continuous emergency of drug-resistant cancers and the low specificity of anticancer agents are the main challenges in the control and eradication of cancers, so it is imperative to develop novel anticancer agents. Immense efforts have been made in developing new lead compounds and novel chemotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of various forms of cancers in recent years. β-Lactam derivatives constitute versatile and attractive scaffolds for the drug discovery since these kinds of compounds possess a variety of pharmacological properties, and some of them exhibited promising potency against both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cancer cell lines. Thus, β-lactam moiety is a useful template for the development of novel anticancer agents. This review will provide an overview of β-lactam derivatives with the potential therapeutic application for the treatment of cancers covering articles published between 2000 and 2020. The mechanisms of action, the critical aspects of design and structureactivity relationships are also discussed.

The chemistry and biological potential of azetidin-2-ones

Azetidin-2-ones, commonly referred as β-lactams, represent a unique ring system, with interesting chemistry and great biological potential. Besides its well known antibiotic activity, this ring system exhibits a wide range of activities, attracting the attention of researchers. The biological and pharmacological profile of azetidin-2-ones is reviewed here comprehensively with several examples under fourteen different activity heads. The chemistry and methods of synthesis have also been discussed.

Optically active 1,3,4,4-tetrasubstituted β-lactams: synthesis and evaluation as tumor cell growth inhibitors

The in vitro cytotoxicity assays of several enantiopure (3S,4S)- and (3R,4R)-1,3,4,4-tetrasubstituted β-lactams derived from amino acids have shown that the (3S,4S)-4-benzyl-1-p-methoxybenzyl-3-methyl-4-methoxycarbonyl derivative 2a, obtained from Phe, displays significant activity, which is comparable to that of the anticancer drug Doxorubicin against HT29 cell lines. Modifications at positions 1 and 4 of the β-lactam ring led to identify the Tyr(2,6-ClBz) analogu 26d with similar activity data to those of 2a. The synthesis and SAR of all these tetrasubstituted β-lactams are reported here.

2-Azetidinone--a new profile of various pharmacological activities

2-azetidinone, a β-lactam four member heterocyclic compound involved in research aimed to evaluate new products that possess interesting biological activities. These compounds reported for their antimicrobial and antifungal activities. Successful introduction of aztreonam as a potent inhibitor of cephalosporinase and ezetimibe as a cholesterol absorption inhibitor proved potential of 2-azetidinone moiety. Subsequently 2-azetidinones were highlighted as a potent mechanism based inhibitor of several enzymes like human tryptase, chymase, thrombin, leukocyte elastase, human cytomegalovirus protease and serine protease enzyme. These derivatives also known to possess antitubercular, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, anti-HIV, antiparkinsonian, antidiabetic and vasopressin V1a antagonist activity. The present review article focuses on the pharmacological profile of 2-azetidinones with their potential activities.