Discovery and evaluation of novel spiroheterocyclic protective agents via a SIRT1 upregulation mechanism in cisplatin-induced premature ovarian failure.

Currently, no effective treatment exists for premature ovarian failure (POF). To obtain compounds with protective effects against POF, we aimed to design and synthesize a series of spiroheterocyclic protective agents with a focus on minimizing toxicity while enhancing their protective effect against cisplatin-induced POF. This was achieved through systematic modifications of Michael receptors and linkers within the molecular structure of 1,5-diphenylpenta-1,4-dien-3-one analogs. To assess the cytotoxicity and activity of these compounds, we constructed quantitative conformational relationship models using an artificial intelligence random forest algorithm, resulting in R2 values exceeding 0.87. Among these compounds, j2 exhibited optimal protective activity. It significantly increased the survival of cisplatin-injured ovarian granulosa KGN cells, improved post-injury cell morphology, reduced apoptosis, and enhanced cellular estradiol (E2) levels. Subsequent investigations revealed that j2 may exert its protective effect via a novel mechanism involving the activation of the SIRT1/AKT signal pathway. Furthermore, in cisplatin-injured POF in rats, j2 was effective in increasing body, ovarian, and uterine weights, elevating the number of follicles at all levels in the ovary, improving ovarian and uterine structures, and increasing serum E2 levels in rats with cisplatin-injured POF. In conclusion, this study introduces a promising compound j2 and a novel target SIRT1 with substantial protective activity against cisplatin-induced POF.

An innovative immunotherapeutic strategy for rheumatoid arthritis: Selectively suppressing angiogenesis and osteoclast differentiation by fully human antibody targeting thymocyte antigen-1.

Thymocyte antigen-1 (THY-1)is a potential target for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment, and THY-1 positive fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) are enriched in the synovium of RA patients and participate in angiogenesis to accelerate RA progression. In this study, we screened an antibody targeting THY-1 (THY-1 Ab) and explored its mechanism in alleviating RA progression. THY-1 Ab was screened from ScFv phage antibody library by phage display technology (PDT). THY-1 Ab-treated collagen induced arthritis (CIA) mice had lower degree of arthritis scores. We explore the mechanism of THY-1 Ab in alleviating RA progression. THY-1 Ab can remarkably inhibit the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors and promote the secretion of anti-inflammatory factors. Further experiments showed that THY1 Ab downregulated the expression of JUNB by the hsa_circ_0094342/miRNA-155-5P/SPI1 axis, inhibited RA angiogenesis and osteoclast differentiation, and relieved RA progression. These findings support that THY-1 Ab is a promising therapeutic antibody for RA treatment.

Green synthesis and anti-tumor efficacy via inducing pyroptosis of novel 1H-benzo[e]indole-2(3H)-one spirocyclic derivatives.

Pyroptosis induction is anticipated to be a new approach to developing anti-tumor medications. A novel class of spirocyclic compounds was designed by hybridization of 1H-Benzo[e]indole-2(3H)-one with 1,4-dihydroquinoline and synthesized through a new green "one-pot" synthesis method using 10 wt% SDS/H2O as a solvent to screen novel tumor cell pyroptosis inducers. The anti-tumor activity of all compounds in vitro was determined by the MTT method, and a fraction of the compounds showed good cell growth inhibitory activity. The quantitative structure-activity relationship models of the compounds were established by artificial intelligence random forest algorithm (R2 = 0.9656 and 0.9747). The ideal compound A9 could, in a concentration-dependent manner, prevent ovarian cancer cells from forming colonies, migrating, and invading. Furthermore, A9 could significantly induce pyroptosis and upregulate the expression of pyroptosis-related proteins GSDME-N, in addition to inducing apoptosis and mediating the expression of apoptosis-related proteins in ovarian cancer cells. A9 (5 mg/kg) significantly reduced tumor volume and weight of ovarian cancer in vivo, decreased caspase-3 expression in tumor tissue, and induced the production of GSDME-N. This study provides a green and efficient atom-economic synthesis method for 1H-Benzo[e]indole-2(3H)-one spirocyclic derivatives and a promising pyroptosis inducer with anti-tumor activity.

Identification of potential PIM-2 inhibitors via ligand-based generative models, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations.

Proviral Integrations of Moloney-2 (PIM-2) kinase is a promising target for various cancers and other diseases, and its inhibitors hold potential for treating related diseases. However, there is currently no clinically available PIM-2 inhibitor. In this study, we constructed a generative model for de novo PIM-2 inhibitor design based on artificial intelligence, performed molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to develop an efficient PIM-2 inhibitor generative model and discover potential PIM-2 inhibitors. First, we designed a generative model based on a Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) framework combined with a transfer learning strategy and generated a new PIM-2 small molecule library using existing active drug databases. The generated compound library was then virtually screened by molecular docking and scaffold similarity comparison, identifying 10 initial hit compounds with better performance. Next, using the inhibitor in the crystal structure as a positive control, we performed two rounds of MD simulations, with lengths of 100 ns and 500 ns, respectively, to study the dynamic stability of the protein-ligand systems of the 10 compounds with PIM-2. Analyzed the interactions with key hinge region residues, binding free energies, and changes in the ATP pocket size. The generative model demonstrates good molecular generation capability and can generate efficient novel molecules with similar physicochemical properties as active PIM-2 drugs. Among the 10 initially selected hit compounds, 5 compounds C3 (- 29.69 kcal/mol), C4 (- 33.31 kcal/mol), C5 (- 28.59 kcal/mol), C8 (- 34.68 kcal/mol), and C9 (- 25.88 kcal/mol) have higher binding energies with PIM-2 than the positive drug 3YR (- 26.18 kcal/mol). The MD simulation results are consistent with the docking analysis, these compounds have lower and more stable RMSD values for the complex systems with the reported positive drug 3YR and PIM-2 complex system. They can form long-term stable interactions with active site and the hinge region of PIM-2, which suggests these compounds are likely to have potent inhibitory effects on PIM-2. This study provides an efficient generative model for PIM-2 inhibitor research and discovers 5 potential novel PIM-2 inhibitors.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of cyclic C7-bridged monocarbonyl curcumin analogs containing an o-methoxy phenyl group as potential agents against gastric cancer.

The structure-activity relationship (SAR) between toxicity and the types of linking ketones of C7 bridged monocarbonyl curcumin analogs (MCAs) was not clear yet. In the pursuit of effective and less cytotoxic chemotherapeutics, we conducted a SAR analysis using various diketene skeletons of C7-bridged MCAs, synthesized cyclic C7-bridged MCAs containing the identified low-toxicity cyclopentanone scaffold and an o-methoxy phenyl group, and assessed their anti-gastric cancer activity and safety profile. Most compounds exhibited potent cytotoxic activities against gastric cancer cells. We developed a quantitative structure-activity relationship model (R2 > 0.82) by random Forest method, providing important information for optimizing structure. An optimized compound 2 exhibited in vitro and in vivo anti-gastric cancer activity partly through inhibiting the AKT and STAT3 pathways, and displayed a favorable in vivo safety profile. In summary, this paper provided a promising class of MCAs and a potential compound for the development of chemotherapeutic drugs.

Elucidating the potential effects of point mutations on FGFR3 inhibitor resistance via combined molecular dynamics simulation and community network analysis.

FGFR3 kinase mutations are associated with a variety of malignancies, but FGFR3 mutant inhibitors have rarely been studied. Furthermore, the mechanism of pan-FGFR inhibitors resistance caused by kinase domain mutations is still unclear. In this study, we try to explain the mechanism of drug resistance to FGFR3 mutation through global analysis and local analysis based on molecular dynamics simulation, binding free energy analysis, umbrella sampling and community network analysis. The results showed that FGFR3 mutations caused a decrease in the affinity between drugs and FGFR3 kinase, which was consistent with the reported experimental results. Possible mechanisms are that mutations affect drug-protein affinity by altering the environment of residues near the hinge region where the protein binds to the drug, or by affecting the A-loop and interfering with the allosteric communication networks. In conclusion, we systematically elucidated the underlying mechanism of pan-FGFR inhibitor resistance caused by FGFR3 mutation based on molecular dynamics simulation strategy, which provided theoretical guidance for the development of FGFR3 mutant kinase inhibitors.

Rational design, synthesis, and pharmacological characterisation of dicarbonyl curcuminoid analogues with improved stability against lung cancer via ROS and ER stress mediated cell apoptosis and pyroptosis.

Curcumin is a natural medicine with a wide range of anti-tumour activities. However, due to ß-diketone moiety, curcumin exhibits poor stability and pharmacokinetics which significantly limits its clinical applications. In this article, two types of dicarbonyl curcumin analogues with improved stability were designed through the calculation of molecular stability by density functional theory. Twenty compounds were synthesised, and their anti-tumour activity was screened. A plurality of analogues had significantly stronger activity than curcumin. In particular, compound B2 ((2E,2'E)-3,3'-(1,4-phenylene)bis(1-(2-chlorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one)) exhibited excellent anti-lung cancer activity in vivo and in vitro. In addition, B2 could upregulate the level of reactive oxygen species in lung cancer cells, which in turn activated the endoplasmic reticulum stress and led to cell apoptosis and pyroptosis. Taken together, curcumin analogue B2 is expected to be a novel candidate for lung cancer treatment with improved chemical and biological characteristics.

Design, green synthesis, antioxidant activity screening, and evaluation of protective effect on cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury of novel monoenone monocarbonyl curcumin analogs.

Antioxidants with high efficacy and low toxicity have the potential to treat cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury (CIRI). Dienone monocarbonyl curcumin analogs (DMCA) capable of overcoming the instability and pharmacokinetic defects of curcumin possess notable antioxidant activity but are found to be significantly toxic. In this study, a novel skeleton of the monoenone monocarbonyl curcumin analogue sAc possessing reduced toxicity and improved stability was designed on the basis of the DMCA skeleton. Moreover, 32 sAc analogs were obtained by applying a green, simple, and economical synthetic method. Multiple sAc analogs with an antioxidant protective effect in PC12 cells were screened using an H2O2-induced oxidative stress damage model, and quantitative evaluation of structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model with regression coefficient of R2 = 0.918921 was built through random forest algorithm (RF). Among these compounds, the optimally active compound sAc15 elicited a potent protective effect on cell growth of PC12 cells by effectively eliminating ROS generation in response to oxidative stress injury by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 antioxidant signaling pathway. In addition, sAc15 exhibited good protection against CIRI in the mice middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. In this paper, we provide a novel class of antioxidants and a potential compound for stroke treatment.

A novel non-ATP competitive FGFR1 inhibitor with therapeutic potential on gastric cancer through inhibition of cell proliferation, survival and migration.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), belonging to receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), possesses various biological functions. Over-expression of FGFR1 has been observed in multiple human malignancies. Hence, targeting FGFR1 is an attractive prospect for the advancement of cancer treatment options. Here, we present a novel small molecular FGFR1 inhibitor L16H50, which can inhibit FGFR1 kinase in an ATP-independent manner. It potently inhibits FGFR1-mediated signaling in a gastric cancer cell line, resulting in inhibition of cell growth, survival and migration. It also displays an outstanding anti-tumor activity in a gastric cancer xenograft tumor model by targeting FGFR1 signaling. These results show that L16H50 is a potent non-ATP-competitive FGFR1 inhibitor and may provide strong rationale for its evaluation in gastric cancer patients.

Peptidomimetic suppresses proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells by fibroblast growth factor 2 signaling cascade blockage.

Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) is closely involved in a variety of tumors, including gastric cancer (GC). FGF2 inhibitors exert good antitumor activity, but no FGF2 inhibitor has been employed for clinical use. To obtain a low-toxicity, stable peptidomimetic (called P29) target to FGF2, the affinity between P29 and FGF2 was detected by surface plasmon resonance. The stability of P29 was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. MTT assay and transwell assay were used to access the proliferative and invasive ability of GC cells, respectively. Western blot assay and flow cytometric analysis were applied to study the mechanism of P29. P29 possessed high affinity with FGF2 and a longer half-life in vitro. P29 suppressed the FGF2-induced proliferation of GC cells. It also inhibited the phosphorylation of FRS2, ERK1/2, and AKT triggered by FGF2 in GC. In addition, P29 blocked GC cell transformation from the G1/G0 phase to the S phase and weakened the invasive capability of GC cells. In this paper, we present a novel FGF2 inhibitor that could exert improved anticancer effect in GC in vitro.

A peptide derivative serves as a fibroblast growth factor 2 antagonist in human gastric cancer.

Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) plays a critical role in tumorigenesis and progression of solid tumor and is upregulated in gastric carcinoma serum. Therefore, it is regarded as a potential therapeutic target of human gastric cancer. Suppression of bioactivities of FGF2 may contribute to human gastric cancer therapy. Herein, we obtained a novel FGF2-binding peptide derivative (named P32), which originated from a previously isolated P7 peptide with poor stability. We proved that P32, which had a half-life in human plasma up to 12 h, enhanced stability and exerted strong inhibitory effect on FGF2-induced cell proliferation and invasion in human gastric cancer cell lines. Further investigations revealed that the underlying anti-proliferation mechanisms of P32 in vitro included arresting FGF2-stimulated cells at the G0/G1 phase and reducing the activation of AKT and Erk1/2 cascades. The FGF2-binding peptide derivative P32 has improved stability, is relatively safe, and may have therapeutic potential in FGF2-driven gastric cancer.

Discovery and anti-cancer evaluation of two novel non-ATP-competitive FGFR1 inhibitors in non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) is correlated closely with the occurrence and development of lung cancer. FGFR1 kinase inhibitors have exhibited significant therapeutic effects against non-small-cell lung cancer. Recently, non-ATP competitive FGFR1 inhibitors have attracted extensive attention due to their low side effects. METHODS: Caliper Mobility Shift Assay was used for FGFR1 inhibition test and kinase inhibitory mode study. Hoechst staining and Annexin V/PI staining were used to evaluate the cell apoptosis induction. Western blot were then performed to confirm the intracellular FGFR1 inhibition and apoptotic protein expression. Finally, the anti-tumor effect and mechanism of Af23 and Ad23 was evaluated in vivo. RESULTS: In this study, we designed, synthesized and discovered two novel non-ATP competitive FGFR1 inhibitors, Af23 and Ad23, using NDGA as a leading compound. They had IC50 values of 0.6 µM and 1.4 µM against FGFR1 kinase, respectively. The kinase inhibitory assay carried at different ATP concentrations showed that the FGFR1 inhibition mode of both Ad23 and Af23 was non-ATP-competitive. Further, Af23 and Ad23 significantly suppressed FGFR1 phosphorylation and cell proliferation in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSLCLC) H460 cells and induced cell apoptosis. Af23 and Ad23 also showed significant anti-tumor activity in the H460 xenograft mouse model, accompanied with the inhibition of FGFR1, ERK, and AKT phosphorylation without exhibiting toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that Ad23 and Af23 are potential agents for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer. This work also provides a structural lead for the design of new non-ATP-competitive FGFR1 inhibitors.

The therapeutic potential of a novel non-ATP-competitive fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 inhibitor on gastric cancer.

Previous studies showed that fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) is an attractive target in gastric cancer therapy. In the current study, we aimed to investigate whether the compound L6123, a novel non-ATP-competitive FGFR1 inhibitor, could show better antitumor activity than the leading compound, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), in FGFR1-overexpressing gastric cancer cells. Using an MTT assay, we investigated the inhibitory effect of L6123 on the viability of three gastric cancer cells (MGC-803, SGC-7901, and BGC-823) overexpressing FGFR1, wild-type mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF), and MEF expressing FGFR1, FGFR2, and FRS2α gene knockout (MEF). We studied the antitumor mechanism of L6123 against the gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 by western blot analysis. The antitumor effects of L6123 on the gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 were detected by flow cytometry, Hoechst staining, western blot analysis, and Transwell invasion assay. L6123 had lower IC50 in all three gastric cancer cells than NDGA and showed better inhibitory activity against MEF cells than against MEF cells. In the SGC-7901 gastric cell, L6123 inhibited the FGF2-induced phosphorylation of FGFR1/FRS2α/ERK1/2 in a dose-dependent manner, induced the activation of the apoptosis-related proteins, cleaved-PARP and cleaved-caspase-3, decreased the expression of pro-caspase-3 and Bcl-2, and induced tumor cell apoptosis. L6123 also dose-dependently reduced cell invasion ability, and showed better activity than NDGA at the same concentration. A novel non-ATP-competitive inhibitor L6123 showed excellent antigastric cancer activity by inhibiting the FGFR1 signaling pathway. Thus, we discovered a potential agent for the treatment of FGFR1-overexpressing gastric cancer.

A novel FGF2 antagonist peptide P8 with potent antiproliferation activity.

Some fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) play a critical role in tumorigenesis and progression. Among them, FGF2 was highly expressed in some tumors, and antagonists binding to FGF2 can suppress the growth of tumor cells. Therefore, FGF2 has been considered as an important target in cancer therapy. In this study, we identified a novel FGF2-binding short peptide (P8, PLLQATAGGGS-NH2) using phage display technology and alanine scanning. The P8 peptide suppressed FGF2-induced proliferation with no cytotoxic effect on cells, arrested the cycle at the G0/G1 phase in B16-F10 cells, and downregulated the activation of fibroblast growth factor receptor substrate 2α (FRS2α)/ERK cascade in B16-F10, NIH-H460, and SGC-7901 cells. Besides, P8 peptide can also inhibit the phosphorylation of FRS2α stimulated by FGF1 and KGF2. These implied that P8 peptide may develop as a multi-target antagonist peptide contributing to tumor treatment.

Synthetic chalcones with potent antioxidant ability on H2O2-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells.

Chalcone derivatives (E)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl) prop-2-en-1-one and (E)-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl) prop-2-en-1-one (Compounds 1 and 2) have been demonstrated to be potent anti-inflammatory agents in our previous study. In light of the relationship of intracellular mechanisms between anti-inflammatories and antioxidants, we further designed and synthesized a series of chalcone derivatives based on 1 and 2, to explore their antioxidant efficacy. The majority of the derivatives exhibited strong protective effects on PC12 (PC12 rat pheochromocytoma) cells exposed to H2O2, and all compounds were nontoxic. A preliminary structure-activity relationship was proposed. Compounds 1 and 1d ((E)-2-methoxy-4-(3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-oxoprop-1-en-1-yl) phenyl acrylate) exerted the action in a good dose-dependent manner. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot analysis showed that 1 and 1d significantly improve the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-dependent antioxidant genes g-Glutamylcysteine Ligase Catalytic Subunit (GCLC) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and their corresponding proteins (γ-glutamyl cysteine synthase (γ-GCS) and HO-1) in PC12 cells. Inhibition of GCLC and HO-1 by specific inhibitors, L-buthionine-S-sulfoximine (BSO) and zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP), respectively, partially reduce the protective effect of 1 and 1d. These data present a series of novel chalcone analogs, especially compounds 1 and 1d, as candidates for treating oxidative stress-related disease by activating the Nrf2-antioxidant responsive element (ARE) pathway.

DCT-Net: An effective method to diagnose retinal tears from B-scan ultrasound images.

Retinal tears (RTs) are usually detected by B-scan ultrasound images, particularly for individuals with complex eye conditions. However, traditional manual techniques for reading ultrasound images have the potential to overlook or inaccurately diagnose conditions. Thus, the development of rapid and accurate approaches for the diagnosis of an RT is highly important and urgent. The present study introduces a novel hybrid deep-learning model called DCT-Net to enable the automatic and precise diagnosis of RTs. The implemented model utilizes a vision transformer as the backbone and feature extractor. Additionally, in order to accommodate the edge characteristics of the lesion areas, a novel module called the residual deformable convolution has been incorporated. Furthermore, normalization is employed to mitigate the issue of overfitting and, a Softmax layer has been included to achieve the final classification following the acquisition of the global and local representations. The study was conducted by using both our proprietary dataset and a publicly available dataset. In addition, interpretability of the trained model was assessed by generating attention maps using the attention rollout approach. On the private dataset, the model demonstrated a high level of performance, with an accuracy of 97.78%, precision of 97.34%, recall rate of 97.13%, and an F1 score of 0.9682. On the other hand, the model developed by using the public funds image dataset demonstrated an accuracy of 83.82%, a sensitivity of 82.69% and a specificity of 82.40%. The findings, therefore present a novel framework for the diagnosis of RTs that is characterized by a high degree of efficiency, accuracy and interpretability. Accordingly, the technology exhibits considerable promise and has the potential to serve as a reliable tool for ophthalmologists.

Synthesis and Anti-gastric Cancer Activity by Targeting FGFR1 Pathway of Novel Asymmetric Bis-chalcone Compounds.

BACKGROUP: Bis-chalcone compounds with symmetrical structures, either isolated from natural products or chemically synthesized, have multiple pharmacological activities. Asymmetric Bis-chalcone compounds have not been reported before, which might be attributed to the synthetic challenges involved, and it remains unknown whether these compounds possess any potential pharmacological activities. AIMS: The aim of this study is to investigate the synthesis route of asymmetric bis-chalcone compounds and identify potential candidates with efficient anti-tumor activity. METHOD: The two-step structural optimization of the bis-chalcone compounds was carried out sequentially, guided by the screening of the compounds for their growth inhibitory activity against gastric cancer cells by MTT assay. The QSAR model of compounds was established through random forest (RF) algorithm. The activities of the optimal compound J3 on growth inhibition, apoptosis, and apoptosis-inducing protein expression in gastric cancer cells were investigated sequentially by colony formation assay, flow cytometry, and western blotting. Further, the inhibitory effects of J3 on the FGFR1 signaling pathway were explored by Wester Blotting, siRNA, and MTT assays. Finally, the in vivo anti-tumor activity and mechanism of J3 were studied through nude mouse xenograft assay, western blotting. RESULT: 27 asymmetric bis-chalcone compounds, including two types (N and J) were sequentially designed and synthesized. Some N-class compounds have good inhibitory activity on the growth of gastric cancer cells. The vast majority of J-class compounds optimized on the basis of N3 exhibit excellent inhibitory activity on gastric cancer cell growth. We established a QSAR model (R2 = 0.851627) by applying random forest algorithms. The optimal compound J3, which has better activity, concentration-dependently inhibited the formation of gastric cancer cell colonies and led to cell apoptosis by inducing the expression of the pro-apoptotic protein cleaved PARP. J3 may exert anti-gastric cancer effects by inhibiting the activation of FGFR1/ERK pathway. Moreover, at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day, J3 inhibited tumor growth in nude mice by nearly 70% in vivo with no significant toxic effect on body weight and organs. CONCLUSION: In summary, this study outlines a viable method for the synthesis of novel asymmetric bischalcone compounds. Furthermore, the compound J3 demonstrates substantial promise as a potential candidate for an anti-tumor drug.

Discovery of Pyroptosis-inducing Drugs and Antineoplastic Activity Based on the ROS/ER Stress/Pyroptosis Axis.

BACKGROUND: Pyroptosis, a cell death process triggered by chemotherapy drugs, has emerged as a highly promising mechanism for combating tumors in recent years. As the lead of new drugs, natural products play an important role in the discovery of anticancer drugs. Compared to other natural products, the medicine food homologous natural products (MFHNP) exhibit a superior safety profile. Among a series of MFHNP molecular skeletons, this study found that only benzylideneacetophenone (1) could induce cancer cell pyroptosis. However, the anti-cancer activity of 1 remains to be improved. AIMS: This study aimed to find a pyroptosis inducer with highly effective antitumor activity by modifying the chalcone structure. METHODS: To examine the effect of the Michael receptor in compound 1 on the induction of pyroptosis, several analogs were synthesized by modifying the Michael acceptor. Subsequently, the anticancer activity was tested by MTT assay, and morphological indications of pyroptosis were observed in human lung carcinoma NCI-H460 and human ovarian cancer CP-70 cell lines. Furthermore, to improve the activity of the chalcone skeleton, the anticancer group 3,4,5- trimethoxyphenyl was incorporated into the phenyl ring. Subsequently, compounds 2-22 were designed, synthesized, and screened in human lung cancer cells (NCI-H460, H1975, and A549). Additionally, a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model was established using the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning library to identify the pharmacophore. Furthermore, both in vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to investigate the molecular mechanisms of pyroptosis induced by the active compound. RESULTS: α, ß-unsaturated ketone was the functional group of the chalcone skeleton and played a pivotal role in inducing cancer cell pyroptosis. QSAR models showed that the regression coefficients (R2) were 0.992 (A549 cells), 0.990 (NCI-H460 cells), and 0.998 (H1975 cells). Among these compounds, compound 7 was selected to be the active compound. Moreover, compound 7 was found to induce pyroptosis in lung cancer cells by upregulating the expression of CHOP by increasing the ROS level. Furthermore, it effectively suppressed the growth of lung cancer xenograft tumors. CONCLUSION: Compound 7 exhibits antineoplastic activity by regulating the ROS/ER stress/pyroptosis axis and is a kind of promising pyroptosis inducer.

Erratum: Author correction to 'Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of chalcone analogues with novel dual antioxidant mechanisms as potential anti-ischemic stroke agents' [Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 9 (2019) 335-350].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2019.01.003.].

Discovery and evaluation of chalcone derivatives as novel potential anti-Toxoplasma gondii agents.

Due to numerous side effects of traditional treatments for toxoplasmosis, it is urgent to develop new anti-Toxoplasma agents with high efficiency and low toxicity. In this study, using drug-food-homologous chalcone skeleton as a leading compound, 6 series of chalcone derivatives were designed, synthesized, and almost 1/2 compounds have good anti-Toxoplasma activity in vitro. The quantitative structure-activity relationship model of the anti-Toxoplasma activity of the second batch of compounds was established by random forest method (R2 = 0.9407). The Michael receptor in the molecular skeleton of chalcones plays an important role in improving the activity. Among these compounds, four chalcone derivatives exhibited potent anti-T. gondii activity and low cytotoxicity in vitro. Specifically, three of them (4a, 4c and 5e) effectively inhibited the proliferation of Toxoplasma tachyzoites in vivo. Liver and spleen index and biochemical parameters, such as alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and malondialdehyde were significantly decreased by the three chalcone derivatives, suggesting that they have protective effects on the liver of mice infected with Toxoplasma tachyzoites. Overall, this article provides a series of promising compounds for the development of anti-Toxoplasma agents.