Derivative of cinnamic acid inhibits T3SS of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae through the HrpG-HrpX regulatory cascade.

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) has a significant impact on rice yield and quality worldwide. Traditionally, bactericide application has been commonly used to control this devastating disease. However, the overuse of fungicides has led to a number of problems such as the development of resistance and environmental pollution. Therefore, the development of new methods and approaches for disease control are still urgent. In this paper, a series of cinnamic acid derivatives were designed and synthesized, and three novel T3SS inhibitors A10, A12 and A20 were discovered. Novel T3SS inhibitors A10, A12 and A20 significantly inhibited the hpa1 promoter activity without affecting Xoo growth. Further studies revealed that the title compounds A10, A12 and A20 significantly impaired hypersensitivity in non-host plant tobacco leaves, while applications on rice significantly reduced symptoms of bacterial leaf blight. RT-PCR showed that compound A20 inhibited the expression of T3SS-related genes. In summary, this work exemplifies the potential of the title compound as an inhibitor of T3SS and its efficacy in the control of bacterial leaf blight.

Synthesis and bioactivity of 3,5-dimethylpyrazole derivatives as potential PDE4 inhibitors.

A series of 3,5-dimethylpyrazole derivatives containing 5-phenyl-2-furan moiety were designed and synthesized as phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) inhibitors. Bioassay results showed that the title compounds exhibited considerable inhibitory activity against PDE4B and blockade of LPS-induced TNFα release. Among the designed compounds, compound If showed the best inhibitory activity against PDE4B with the IC50 value of 1.7 µM, which also showed good in vivo activity in animal models of asthma/COPD and sepsis induced by LPS. The primary structure-activity relationship (SAR) study and docking results suggested that introduction of the substituent groups to the phenyl ring at the para-position, especially methoxy group, was helpful to enhance inhibitory activity against PDE4B.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2,5-disubstituted furan derivatives as P-glycoprotein inhibitors for Doxorubicin resistance in MCF-7/ADR cell.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a tendency in which cells become resistant to structurally and mechanistically unrelated drugs, which is mediated by P-glycoprotein (P-gp). It is one of the noteworthy problems in cancer therapy. As one of the most important drugs in cancer therapy, doxorubicin has not good effectiveness if used independently. So targeting the P-gp protein is one of the key points to solve the MDR. Three series of furan derivatives containing tetrahydroquinoline or tetrahydroisoquinoline were designed and synthesized as P-gp inhibitors in this paper. Compound 5m containing 6,7-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline possessed good potency against P-gp (EC50 = 0.89 ±â€¯0.11 µM). The preliminary structure-activity relationship and docking studies demonstrated that compound 5m would be great promise as a lead compound for further study. Most worthy of mention is drug combination of doxorubicin and 5m displayed antiproliferative effect of about 97.8%. This study provides highlighted P-gp inhibitor for withstanding malignant tumor cell with multidrug resistance especially doxorubicin resistance setting the basis for further studies.

Synthesis and bioactivity of pyrazole and triazole derivatives as potential PDE4 inhibitors.

A series of pyrazole and triazole derivatives containing 5-phenyl-2-furan functionality were designed and synthesized as phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) inhibitors. The bioassay results showed that title compounds exhibited considerable inhibitory activity against PDE4B and blockade of LPS-induced TNFα release. Meanwhile, the activity of compounds containing 1,2,4-triazole (series II) was higher than that of pyrazole-attached derivatives (series I). The primary structure-activity relationship study and docking results showed that the 1,2,4-triazole moiety of compound IIk played a key role to form integral hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking interaction with PDE4B protein while the rest part of the molecule extended into the catalytic domain to block the access of cAMP and formed the foundation for inhibition of PDE4. Compound IIk would be great promise as a hit compound for further study based on the preliminary structure-activity relationship and molecular modeling studies.

Antitumor Effects and Mechanism of Novel Emodin Rhamnoside Derivatives against Human Cancer Cells In Vitro.

A series of novel anthracene L-rhamnopyranosides compounds were designed and synthesized and their anti-proliferative activities on cancer cell lines were investigated. We found that one derivative S-8 (EM-d-Rha) strongly inhibited cell proliferation of a panel of different human cancer cell lines including A549, HepG2, OVCAR-3, HeLa and K562 and SGC-790 cell lines, and displayed IC50 values in low micro-molar ranges, which are ten folds more effective than emodin. In addition, we found EM-d-Rha (3-(2",3"-Di-O-acetyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-2',3'-di-O-acetyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-emodin) substantially induced cellular apoptosis of HepG2 and OVCAR-3 cells in the early growth stage. Furthermore, EM-d-Rha led to the decrease of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, and up-regulated the express of cells apoptosis factors in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The results indicated the EM-d-Rha may inhibit the growth and proliferation of HepG2 cells through the pathway of apoptosis induction, and the possible molecular mechanism may due to the activation of intrinsic apoptotic signal pathway.