Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 4-aniline quinazoline derivatives conjugated with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donors as potent EGFR inhibitors against L858R resistance mutation.

In this study, a series of 4-aniline quinazoline derivatives bearing hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donors were designed, synthesized and evaluated for biological activities. The synthesized compounds were screened for the enzymatic activities against EGFR and EGFR mutants by kinase target-based cell screening method. The results demonstrate that most compounds exhibit selectively inhibitory activities against TEL-EGFR-L858R-BaF3, especially compound 9h with GI50 = 0.008 µM (TEL-EGFR-L858R-BaF3), 0.0069 µM (TEL-EGFR-C797S-BaF3), >10 µM (BaF3), >10 µM (TEL-EGFR-BaF3) and 6.03 µM (TEL-EGFR-T790M-L858R-BaF3). The results from anti-proliferative assays in two NSCLC cell lines indicate that synthetic derivatives (9g, 9h, 15e and 15f) with H2S donor ACS81 display greater anti-proliferative potency against NSCLC cell line H3255 bearing EGFR mutant (L858R) with GI50 values ranging from 0.3486 to 1.348 µM. In addition, compound 9h exhibits weak anti-proliferative effects on other tumor cells (HepG2, MCF-7, HT-29 and A431) and has lower toxic effect on HUVEC cells than AZD9291 (positive control). Meanwhile, compound 9h inhibits the phosphorylation of EGFR in H3255 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Cell cycle analysis reveals that compound 9h suppresses the proliferation of cells by inducing cell cycle arrest in G0-G1 phase. The result of H2S release evaluation suggests that the H2S release of compound 9h is significantly more and faster than other compounds.

Withaminimas A-F, six withanolides with potential anti-inflammatory activity from Physalis minima.

Withaminimas A-F (1-6), six new withaphysalin-type withanolides were isolated from the aerial parts of Physalis minima L.. The structures of these compounds were elucidated through a variety of spectroscopic techniques including HR-MS, NMR, and ECD. Compound 1 belongs to rare 18-norwithanolides, and 2-3 were 13/14-secowithanolides. According to the traditional usage of P. minima, inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccaride-activated RAW264.7 macrophages were evaluated, and compounds 1-4 exhibited significant inhibitory effects with IC50 values among 3.91-18.46 µmol·L-1.

Exercise training modalities in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Current international guidelines recommend aerobic, resistance, and combined exercises for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In our study, we conducted a network meta-analysis to assess the comparative impact of different exercise training modalities on glycemic control, cardiovascular risk factors, and weight loss in patients with T2DM. METHODS: We searched five electronic databases to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the differences between different exercise training modalities for patients with T2DM. The risk of bias in the included RCTs was evaluated according to the Cochrane tool. Network meta-analysis was performed to calculate mean difference the ratio of the mean and absolute risk differences. Data were analyzed using R-3.4.0. RESULTS: A total of 37 studies with 2208 patients with T2DM were included in our study. Both supervised aerobic and supervised resistance exercises showed a significant reduction in HbA1c compared to no exercise (0.30% lower, 0.30% lower, respectively), however, there was a less reduction when compared to combined exercise (0.17% higher, 0.23% higher). Supervised aerobic also presented more significant improvement than no exercise in fasting plasma glucose (9.38 mg/dl lower), total cholesterol (20.24 mg/dl lower), triacylglycerol (19.34 mg/dl lower), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (11.88 mg/dl lower). Supervised resistance showed more benefit than no exercise in improving systolic blood pressure (3.90 mmHg lower]) and total cholesterol (22.08 mg/dl lower]. In addition, supervised aerobic exercise was more powerful in improving HbA1c and weight loss than unsupervised aerobic (HbA1c: 0.60% lower; weight loss: 5.02 kg lower) and unsupervised resistance (HbA1c: 0.53% lower) exercises. CONCLUSION: Compared with either supervised aerobic or supervised resistance exercise alone, combined exercise showed more pronounced improvement in HbA1c levels; however, there was a less marked improvement in some cardiovascular risk factors. In terms of weight loss, there were no significant differences among the combined, supervised aerobic, and supervised resistance exercises. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Our study protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO); registration number: CRD42017067518 .

Estimation Study of New Cancer Cases and Deaths in Wuwei, Hexi Corridor Region, China, 2018.

Population-based cancer registration data were collected to estimate the cancer incidence and mortality in Wuwei, Hexi Corridor Region, China in 2018. We used the 2011-2013 data to predict the number of new cases and deaths in 2018 and the 2003-2013 data to analyze trends in cancer incidence and mortality. The goal is to enable cancer prevention and control directions. Our results indicated that stomach cancer is the most common cancer. For all cancers combined, the incidence and mortality rates showed significantly increasing trends (+2.63% per year; P < 0.05 and +1.9% per year; P < 0.05). This study revealed a significant cancer burden among the population of this area. Cancer screening and prevention should be performed after an epidemiological study of the cause of the cancer is completed.

Anti-proliferation of triple-negative breast cancer cells with physagulide P: ROS/JNK signaling pathway induces apoptosis and autophagic cell death.

Physagulide P (PP), a new natural compound, was isolated from Physalis angulate L. in our laboratory. In this study, we demonstrated that PP potently suppressed cell proliferation by inducing G2/M phase arrest in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells. Moreover, PP provoked apoptosis by decreasing the mitochondrial membrane potential and elevating the Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression ratio. The caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK partly restore cell viability, suggesting that apoptosis plays as an important role in the anti-proliferative effect of PP. PP-treated cells also underwent autophagy, as evidenced by the formation of autophagosomes and the accumulation of LC3BII. Furthermore, the knockdown of LC3B reduced PP-induced cytotoxicity, indicating that autophagy played an anticancer effect. PP also induced the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and resulted in c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) activation. Accordingly, JNK siRNA significantly attenuated PP-triggered apoptosis and autophagy, and ROS scavengers almost completely reverse this apoptosis and autophagy. The ROS scavenger also blocked PP-induced G2/M phase arrest and the phosphorylation of JNK. Our results revealed that PP induced G2/M phase arrest, apoptosis and autophagy via the ROS/JNK signaling pathway in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells. Therefore, PP is a promising candidate for the development of antitumor drugs for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel 4-anilinoquinazoline derivatives bearing amino acid moiety as potential EGFR kinase inhibitors.

In this study, a series of 4-anilinoquinazoline derivatives bearing amino acid moiety were designed, synthesized and evaluated for biological activities. The synthesized compounds were screened for anticancer activity against human hepatocellular carcinoma cell HepG2 using SRB assay. In vitro cell growth inhibition assays indicated that compound 6m exhibited moderate inhibitory activities only against human hepatocellular carcinoma cells HepG2 with IC50 of 8.3 µM. Synthetic derivatives showed excellent selectivity, such as compound 6m demonstrated a strong inhibition of EGFR (IC50 = 0.0032 µM), with selectivity of over 2000-fold over other kinases. Apoptosis analysis revealed that compound 6m caused obvious induction of cell apoptosis. 6m significantly down-regulated the expression of Bcl-2 and up-regulated the expression of Bax, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), promoted the mitochondrial cytochrome c release into the cytoplasm, activated caspase-3, and finally induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells. Molecular docking indicated that compound 6m could bind well with EGFR. Therefore, compound 6m may be a potential agent for cancer therapy deserving further research.

The Anti-inflammatory Activities of Two Major Withanolides from Physalis minima Via Acting on NF-κB, STAT3, and HO-1 in LPS-Stimulated RAW264.7 Cells.

Physalis minima has been traditionally used as a folk herbal medicine in China for the treatment of many inflammatory diseases. However, little is known about its anti-inflammatory constituents and associated molecular mechanisms. In our study, withaphysalin A (WA) and 2, 3-dihydro-withaphysalin C (WC), two major withanolide-type compounds, were obtained from the anti-inflammatory fraction of P. minima. Both WA and WC significantly inhibited the production of nitrite oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and several pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW264.7 macrophages. Further research indicated that they downregulated the LPS-induced expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) at the mRNA and protein levels. In addition, they also suppressed nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65, phosphorylation of STAT3, and upregulated HO-1 expression. Intriguingly, the activation of MAPKs was suppressed by WA but was not altered by WC. Taken together, these data provide scientific evidence for elucidating the major bioactive constituents and related molecular mechanisms for the traditional use of P. minima and suggest that WA and WC can be attractive therapeutic candidates for various inflammatory diseases.

Metabonomics applied in exploring the antitumour mechanism of physapubenolide on hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting glycolysis through the Akt-p53 pathway.

Metabolomics can be used to identify potential markers and discover new targets for future therapeutic interventions. Here, we developed a novel application of the metabonomics method based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) for rapidly exploring the anticancer mechanism of physapubenolide (PB), a cytotoxic withanolide isolated from Physalis species. PB inhibited the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo, accompanied by apoptosis-related biochemical events, including the cleavage of caspase-3/7/9 and PARP. Metabolic profiling analysis revealed that PB disturbed the metabolic pattern and significantly decreased lactate production. This suggests that the suppression of glycolysis plays an important role in the anti-tumour effects induced by PB, which is further supported by the decreased expression of glycolysis-related genes and proteins. Furthermore, the increased level of p53 and decreased expression of p-Akt were observed, and the attenuated glycolysis and enhanced apoptosis were reversed in the presence of Akt cDNA or p53 siRNA. These results confirm that PB exhibits anti-cancer activities through the Akt-p53 pathway. Our study not only reports for the first time the anti-tumour mechanism of PB, but also suggests that PB is a promising therapeutic agent for use in cancer treatments and that metabolomic approaches provide a new strategy to effectively explore the molecular mechanisms of promising anticancer compounds.

Three New Cytotoxic Withanolides from the Chinese Folk Medicine Physalis angulata.

Physagulides M-O, three new withanolides (1-3), were isolated from the aerial parts of Physalis angulata L. Their structures were elucidated through extensive spectroscopic techniques, including 1D and 2D NMR, and HRESIMS. The absolute configurations (22-R) of these new compounds were determined by CD analysis. Compounds 1 and 3 showed significant selective cytotoxic activities on the MG-63 cell line, with IC50 values of 4.28 and 5.44 µM, respectively.