Solution-phase parallel syntheses of herbicidal 1-phenyl-2,4,5- imidazolidinetriones and 2-thioxo-4,5-imidazolidinediones.

In order to find new herbicidally active compounds, a fifteen-member library, focusing on the variation of 3- position substituents of 2,4,5-imidazolidine-trione or 2-thioxo-4,5-imidazolidinedione, was designed and prepared in parallel by the reaction of various ureas or thioureas with oxalyl chloride using solution-phase technology. An interesting and, to the best of our knowledge, unprecedented finding is that a by-product of 1-phenyl-3-propylcarbodiimide was formed during the addition of oxalyl chloride into the solution of 1-phenyl-3-propylthiourea in the presence of triethylamine in dichloromethane. It has been shown that the herbicidal activity of 2,4,5-imidazolidinetriones is about the same as that of their analogous 2-thioxo-4,5-imidazolidinediones. Compound with propyl or isopropyl group at the 3- position of 2,4,5-imidazolidinetrione ring demonstrated good herbicidal activity. The most active compound, 1-(2-fluoro- 4-chloro-5-propargyloxy)-phenyl-3-propyl-2-thioxo-4,5-imidazolidinedione, gave 95% control of the growth of velvetleaf at 200 g/ha in the post-emergence test.

The sensitivity of digestive tract tumor cells to As2O3 is associated with the inherent cellular level of reactive oxygen species.

AIM: To explore the correlation of the inherent cellular ROS level with the susceptibility of the digestive tract tumor cells to apoptosis inducted by As2O3. METHODS: Two gastric carcinoma cell lines, SGC7901 and MKN45, and two esophageal carcinoma cell lines, EC/CUHK1(alternatively named EC1.71) and EC1867 with low concentration(2 micromol x L(-1))of As2O3 were cultured espectly, which confirmed the difference in apoptosis susceptibility between SGC7901 and MKN45, and between EC/CUHK1 and EC1867. The cells were incubated with dihydrogenrhodamine123 (DHR123), used as a ROS capture in absence of As2O3. The fluorescent intensity of rhodamine123, which was the product of cellular oxidation of DHR123, was detected by flow cytometry, and ROS was measured. RESULTS: Apoptosis induced by a low concentration of As2O3 was more readily to occur in SGC7901(22.4%+/-2.4%) and EC/CUHK1(27.0%+/-2.9%) than in MKN45(2.1%+/-0.5%) and EC1867(0.8%+/-0.5%). In other words, SGC7901 was more sensitive than MKN45 to As2O3, meanwhile EC/CUHK1 was more sensitive than EC1867 to As2O3. The level of inherent cellular ROS in SGC7901(650+/-37) was higher than that in MKN45(507+/-22)(P<0.01), and the level of inherent cellular ROS in EC/CUHK1(462+/-17) was higher than that in EC1867(187+/-12)(P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The cellular sensitivity to apoptosis induced by As2O3 is associated with the difference in cellular ROS level. The inherent ROS level might determinate the apoptotic sensitivity of tumor cells to As2O3.

The Susceptibility of Leukemia Cells to Arsenic Trioxide-induced Apoptosis is Determined by Cellular Reactive Oxygen Species Level.

To explore the relationship between the susceptibility to arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3))-induced apoptosis of leukemia cells and the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of cells, flow cytometry and electron microscopy were applied to identify apoptosis, and dihydrorhodamine123 was used to display the ROS level of cells. As(2)O(3) alone or in combination with 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ, 2.5 &mgr;mol/L for NB4 cells, 10 &mgr;mol/L for U937 cells) were used to induce cell apoptosis. The results showed that NB4 cells possessed higher level of ROS than U937 cells. DMNQ raised ROS levels of NB4 and U937 cells, sensitized U937 cells to As(2)O(3)-induced apoptosis, and enhanced the efficacy of As(2)O(3)-induced apoptosis of NB4 cells. Catalase reversed the effect of DMNQ on NB4 and U937 cells. It was concluded that the susceptibility of leukemia cells to arsenic trioxide-induced apoptosis is determined by ROS level in the cells.