Repurposing Synthetic Congeners of a Natural Product Aurone Unveils a Lead Antitumor Agent Inhibiting Folded P-Loop Conformation of MET Receptor Tyrosine Kinase

Design, synthesis and evaluation of acetylcholine-antitumor lipid hybrids led to identification of a potential anticancer agent disrupting the CDK4/6-Rb pathway in lung cancer

Hybridization of acetylcholine with antitumor lipids (ATLs) was explored to achieve novel potential anticancer agents. The combination with a 2-stearoxyphenyl moiety substantially enhanced the anticancer activity of the acetylcholine hybrids. Compounds 6, 8, 9 and 10 exhibited pronounced anticancer activities higher than edelfosine and stPEPC and NSC43067. Compounds 6, 8, 9 and 10 also showed broad-spectrum anticancer activity against diverse cancer cells including lung, ovarian, renal, prostate, leukaemia, colon, CNS, melanoma, and breast cancer cells. Compounds 6 and 8 were potent compounds eliciting single digit low micromolar GI50 values. Compound 6 was the most potent against non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, renal cancer, and prostate cancer. Meanwhile, compound 8 was the most potent against leukaemia, colon cancer, CNS cancer, melanoma, and breast cancer. Exploration of the mechanism of action of compound 6 in A549 non-small cell lung cancer cells showed that it triggers cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase via disruption of the CDK4/6-Rb pathway and induces apoptosis via the activation of caspases, upregulation of BAX and cleavage of PARP. Overall, the results present acetylcholine-ATL hybrids 6 and 8 as potential anticancer agents for possible further development.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of O4'-benzyl-hispidol derivatives and analogs as dual monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors and anti-neuroinflammatory agents

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of two series of O4'-benzyl-hispidol derivatives and the analogous corresponding O3'-benzyl derivatives aiming to develop selective monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors endowed with anti-neuroinflammatory activity is reported herein. The first O4'-benzyl-hispidol derivatives series afforded several more potentially active and MAO-B inhibitors than the O3'-benzyl derivatives series. The most potential compound 2e of O4'-benzyl derivatives elicited sub-micromolar MAO-B IC50 of 0.38 µM with a selectivity index >264 whereas most potential compound 3b of O3'-benzyl derivatives showed only 0.95 MAO-B IC50 and a selectivity index >105. Advancement of the most active compounds showing sub-micromolar activities to further cellular evaluations of viability and induced production of pro-neuroinflammatory mediators confirmed compound 2e as a potential lead compound inhibiting the production of the neuroinflammatory mediator nitric oxide significantly by microglial BV2 cells at 3 µM concentration without significant cytotoxicity up to 30 µM. In silico molecular docking study predicted plausible binding modes with MAO enzymes and provided insights at the molecular level. Overall, this report presents compound 2e as a potential lead compound to develop potential multifunctional compounds.

Discovery of a stilbenoid-flavanone hybrid as an antitumor Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway inhibitor

A series of designed stilbenoid-flavanone hybrids featuring sp3-hybridized C2 and C3 atoms of C-ring was evaluated against colorectal cancers presented compounds 4, 17, and 20 as the most potential compounds among explored compounds. Evaluation of the anticancer activity spectrum of compounds 4, 17, and 20 against diverse solid tumors presented compounds 17 and 20 with interesting anticancer spectrum. The potencies of compounds 17 and 20 were assessed in comparison with FDA-approved anticancer drugs. Compound 17 was the, in general, the most potent showing low micromolar GI50 values that were more potent than the standard FDA-approved drugs against several solid tumors including colon, brain, skin, renal, prostate and breast tumors. Compound 17 was subjected for evaluation against normal cell lines and was subjected to a mechanism study in HCT116 colon cancer cells which presented it as an inhibitor of Wnt signaling pathway triggering G2/M cell cycle arrest though activation of p53-p21 pathway as well as intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic death of colon cancer cells. Compound 17 might be a candidate for further development against diverse solid tumors including colon cancer.