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Kazakova A, Frydrych I, Jakubcová N, Pokorný J, Lišková B, Gurská S, Džubák P, Hajdúch M, Urban M. Novel triterpenoid pyrones, phthalimides and phthalates are selectively cytotoxic in CCRF-CEM cancer cells - Synthesis, potency, and mitochondrial mechanism of action. Eur J Med Chem 2024; 269:116336. [PMID: 38520761 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.116336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
A series of triterpenoid pyrones was synthesized and subsequently modified to introduce phthalimide or phthalate moieties into the triterpenoid skeleton. These compounds underwent in vitro cytotoxicity screening, revealing that a subset of six compounds exhibited potent activity, with IC50 values in the low micromolar range. Further biological evaluations, including Annexin V and propidium iodide staining experiment revealed, that all compounds induce selective apoptosis in cancer cells. Measurements of mitochondrial potential, cell cycle analysis, and the expression of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins confirmed, that apoptosis was mediated via the mitochondrial pathway. These findings were further supported by cell cycle modulation and DNA/RNA synthesis studies, which indicated a significant increase in cell accumulation in the G0/G1 phase and a marked reduction in S-phase cells, alongside a substantial inhibition of DNA synthesis. The activation of caspase-3 and the cleavage of PARP, coupled with a decrease in the expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL proteins, underscored the induction of apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. Given their high activity and pronounced effect on mitochondria function, trifluoromethyl pyrones 1f and 2f, and dihydrophthalimide 2h have been selected for further development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Kazakova
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Ivo Frydrych
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Nikola Jakubcová
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Pokorný
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Barbora Lišková
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Soňa Gurská
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Džubák
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Laboratory of Experimental Medicine, University Hospital, Hněvotínská 1333/5, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
| | - Marián Hajdúch
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Laboratory of Experimental Medicine, University Hospital, Hněvotínská 1333/5, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
| | - Milan Urban
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
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Rárová L, Pakulski Z, Strnad M, Kvasnicová M, Štenclová T, Cmoch P. Effect of modification of betulinic acid at the C3-carbon atom of homolupane triterpenoids on the antiproliferative activity in vitro. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2022; 224:106161. [PMID: 35932956 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2022.106161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
In search of new cytotoxic derivatives based on the lupane scaffold, methyl betulonate and methyl 20,29-dihydrobetulonate were conjugated with Reformatsky reagents to provide homolupanes extended at the C3-carbon atom. Further transformations of the functional groups afforded a series of derivatives with 2-hydroxyethyl and allyl alcohol moieties. Their varying antiproliferative activity in vitro was then investigated in four cancer cell lines and in normal human BJ fibroblasts. In cervical carcinoma HeLa cells, derivatives 5, 6 and 17 were the most promising with lower micromolar IC50s and no toxicity to fibroblasts, thus showing a high therapeutic index. In addition, induction of apoptosis was found in HeLa cells after 24 h treatment with compounds 5, 6, 13 and 29. This newly synthesized series is more interesting than the published lupane and homolupane triterpenes and saponins, due to their nontoxicity towards healthy human cells and stronger cytotoxicity to various cancer cell lines. This approach increases their potential as anticancer agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Rárová
- Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, CZ-78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic.
| | - Zbigniew Pakulski
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kasprzaka 44/52, 01-224 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Miroslav Strnad
- Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, CZ-78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Marie Kvasnicová
- Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, CZ-78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Tereza Štenclová
- Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, CZ-78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Piotr Cmoch
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kasprzaka 44/52, 01-224 Warsaw, Poland
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Hodoň J, Frydrych I, Trhlíková Z, Pokorný J, Borková L, Benická S, Vlk M, Lišková B, Kubíčková A, Medvedíková M, Pisár M, Šarek J, Das V, Ligasová A, Koberna K, Džubák P, Hajdúch M, Urban M. Triterpenoid pyrazines and pyridines - Synthesis, cytotoxicity, mechanism of action, preparation of prodrugs. Eur J Med Chem 2022; 243:114777. [PMID: 36174412 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.114777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 09/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
A set of fifteen triterpenoid pyrazines and pyridines was prepared from parent triterpenoid 3-oxoderivatives (betulonic acid, dihydrobetulonic acid, oleanonic acid, moronic acid, ursonic acid, heterobetulonic acid, and allobetulone). Cytotoxicity of all compounds was tested in eight cancer and two non-cancer cell lines. Evaluation of the structure-activity relationships revealed that the triterpenoid core determined whether the final molecule is active or not, while the heterocycle is able to increase the activity and modulate the specificity. Five compounds (1b, 1c, 2b, 2c, and 8) were found to be preferentially and highly cytotoxic (IC50 ≈ 1 μM) against leukemic cancer cell lines (CCRF-CEM, K562, CEM-DNR, or K562-TAX). Surprisingly, compounds 1c, 2b, and 2c are 10-fold more active in multidrug-resistant leukemia cells (CEM-DNR and K562-TAX) than in their non-resistant analogs (CCRF-CEM and K562). Pharmacological parameters were measured for the most promising candidates and two types of prodrugs were synthesized: 1) Sugar-containing conjugates, most of which had improved cell penetration and retained high cytotoxicity in the CCRF-CEM cell line, unfortunately, they lost the selectivity against resistant cells. 2) Medoxomil derivatives, among which compounds 26-28 gained activities of IC50 0.026-0.043 μM against K562 cells. Compounds 1b, 8, 21, 22, 23, and 24 were selected for the evaluation of the mechanism of action based on their highest cytotoxicity against CCRF-CEM cell line. Several experiments showed that the majority of them cause apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway. Compounds 1b, 8, and 21 inhibit growth and disintegrate spheroid cultures of HCT116 and HeLa cells, which would be important for the treatment of solid tumors. In summary, compounds 1b, 1c, 2b, 2c, 24, and 26-28 are highly and selectively cytotoxic against cancer cell lines and were selected for future in vivo tests and further development of anticancer drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Hodoň
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. Listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Ivo Frydrych
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Zdeňka Trhlíková
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. Listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Pokorný
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. Listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Lucie Borková
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. Listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Sandra Benická
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. Listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Vlk
- Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Břehová 7, 115 19, Prague 1, Czech Republic
| | - Barbora Lišková
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Agáta Kubíčková
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Czech Advanced Technologies and Research Institute (CATRIN), Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Palacký University Olomouc, Křížkovského 511/8, 77900, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Martina Medvedíková
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Pisár
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. Listopadu 1192/12, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Šarek
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Viswanath Das
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Czech Advanced Technologies and Research Institute (CATRIN), Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Palacký University Olomouc, Křížkovského 511/8, 77900, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Anna Ligasová
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Karel Koberna
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Džubák
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Marián Hajdúch
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Milan Urban
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 1333/5, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
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Kozubek M, Hoenke S, Schmidt T, Deigner HP, Al-Harrasi A, Csuk R. Synthesis and cytotoxicity of betulin and betulinic acid derived 30-oxo-amides. Steroids 2022; 182:109014. [PMID: 35314417 DOI: 10.1016/j.steroids.2022.109014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Betulin and betulinic acid derived 30-oxo-amides were prepared by hydroboration, subsequent oxidation and amidation; these novel compounds were screened for their cytotoxic activity by SRB assays. All of the compounds showed significant cytotoxic activity for different human tumor cell lines. Small changes in the structure, however, resulted in significant changes in the cytotoxicity of the compounds. Of special interest were compounds 11 and 12, each holding an extra ethylenediamine moiety. These C-30 amides which showed low EC50 values, and both of them acted mainly by apoptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Kozubek
- Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Organic Chemistry, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 2, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Sophie Hoenke
- Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Organic Chemistry, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 2, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Theresa Schmidt
- Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Organic Chemistry, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 2, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Hans-Peter Deigner
- Furtwangen University, Institute of Precision Medicine, Medical and Life Science Faculty, Jakob-Kienzle-Str. 17, D-78054 Villigen, Schwenningen, Germany
| | - Ahmed Al-Harrasi
- University of Nizwa, Chair of Oman's Medicinal Plants and Marine Natural Products, P.O. Box 33, PC 616, Birkat Al-Mauz, Nizwa, Oman
| | - René Csuk
- Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Organic Chemistry, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 2, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
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