Synthesis and antitumor activities of sinomenine derivatives on rings A and C

Bioactivities and Mechanisms of Action of Sinomenine and Its Derivatives: A Comprehensive Review

Sinomenine, an isoquinoline alkaloid extracted from the roots and stems of Sinomenium acutum, has been extensively studied for its derivatives as bioactive agents. This review concentrates on the research advancements in the biological activities and action mechanisms of sinomenine-related compounds until November 2023. The findings indicate a broad spectrum of pharmacological effects, including antitumor, anti-inflammation, neuroprotection, and immunosuppressive properties. These compounds are notably effective against breast, lung, liver, and prostate cancers, exhibiting IC50 values of approximately 121.4 nM against PC-3 and DU-145 cells, primarily through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR, NF-κB, MAPK, and JAK/STAT signaling pathways. Additionally, they manifest anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects predominantly via the NF-κB, MAPK, and Nrf2 signaling pathways. Utilized in treating rheumatic arthritis, these alkaloids also play a significant role in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular protection, as well as organ protection through the NF-κB, Nrf2, MAPK, and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways. This review concludes with perspectives and insights on this topic, highlighting the potential of sinomenine-related compounds in clinical applications and the development of medications derived from natural products.

Design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of sinomenine derivatives on rings A and C: Novel compounds screening for aplastic anemia targeting on cytotoxic T lymphocyte

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), a key effector cell in aplastic anemia (AA) immune injury, is shown to be a potential target for AA drug therapy. However, there is no candidate for this target till now. Oriented by the inhibition activity of CTL and macrophage derived nitric oxide (NO), a series of novel sinomenine derivatives on rings A and C are designed, synthesized and screened. Among them, compound 3a demonstrates the best inhibitory activity on CTL with an IC₅₀ value of 2.3 μM, and a 97.1% inhibiton rate on macrophage NO production without significant cytotoxicity. Further, compound 3a exhibits substantial therapeutic efficacy on immune-mediated BM failure in AA model mice by improving the symptoms of anemia and the function of BM hematopoiesis, and shows more advantages in life quality improving than cyclosporine A (CsA). Its efficacy on AA at least partly comes from targeting on activated cluster of differentiation (CD)8⁺ T cell. Additionally, 3a also shows much less toxicity (LD₅₀ > 10.0 g/kg) than sinomenine (LD₅₀ = 1.1 g/kg) in preliminary acute toxicity assessment in mice, and has a low risk to inhibit hERG to cause cardiotoxicity. These results indicate that compound 3a merits further investigation for AA treatment by targeting on CTL.

Design, Synthesis, Biological Evaluation and Silico Prediction of Novel Sinomenine Derivatives

Sinomenine is a morphinan alkaloid with a variety of biological activities. Its derivatives have shown significant cytotoxic activity against different cancer cell lines in many studies. In this study, two series of sinomenine derivatives were designed and synthesized by modifying the active positions C₁ and C₄ on the A ring of sinomenine. Twenty-three compounds were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopy (IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, and HRMS). They were further evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against five cancer cell lines, MCF-7, Hela, HepG2, SW480 and A549, and a normal cell line, Hek293, using MTT and CCK8 methods. The chlorine-containing compounds exhibited significant cytotoxic activity compared to the nucleus structure of sinomenine. Furthermore, we searched for cancer-related core targets and verified their interaction with derivatives through molecular docking. The chlorine-containing compounds 5g, 5i, 5j, 6a, 6d, 6e, and 6g exhibited the best against four core targets AKT1, EGFR, HARS and KARS. The molecular docking results were consistent with the cytotoxic results. Overall, results indicate that chlorine-containing derivatives might be a promising lead for the development of new anticancer agents.

The present and future synthetic strategies of structural modifications of sinomenine

This review summarizes the modifications of sinomenine, a hot compound derived from herbal plants, which possesses diverse biological activities and low cytotoxicity.

Design and synthesis of sinomenine isoxazole derivatives via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction

A novel structure of sinomenine isoxazole derivatives is synthesised from sinomenine hydrochloride and aromatic aldehydes and requires six steps. 19 target compounds have been obtained in good yields. The sinomenine hydrochloride transforms to 4-alkynyl sinomenine, which is a key intermediate product to synthesise the target sinomenine isoxazole compounds, after a neutralisation reaction with ammonia and substitution reaction with 3-chloropropyne. Another key intermediate product is 1,3-dipole, which can be obtained from aromatic aldehyde. After treatment with hydroxylamine hydrochloride and then sodium carbonate solution, aromatic aldehyde is converted to aldehyde oxime, which reacts with N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS) to afford aryl hydroximino chloride. 1,3-Dipole is eventually formed in situ while triethylamine (TEA) in DMF is added dropwise. Then 4-alkynyl sinomenine is added to provide the sinomenine isoxazole derivative via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction as the key step. All the target compounds are characterised by melting point, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, HRMS and FT-IR spectroscopy.