[Mn(PaPy2Q)(NO)]ClO4, a Near-Infrared Light activated release of Nitric Oxide drug as a nitric oxide donor for therapy of human prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

This study was the first to investigate the synthesis of near-infrared light-sensitive NO prodrug [Mn(PaPy2Q)(NO)]ClO4, and detection the amount of NO released by the drug in different time and near infrared light (10 mW, 20 mW). It showed that with the increase of light power, the time required for the drug to release NO was shortened, and we selected 20 mW, 10 min as a follow-up study of light power and irradiation time while ensuring the near-infrared light did not affect tumor cells. The cells were irradiated with 20 mW of near-infrared light for 10 min at 6 h after treatment with the drug on PC-3, LNCaP and 22RV1 cells, and NO concentration and cell survival rate were tested at 12 h, 24 h and 48 h. Experiments showed that NO concentration remained stable within 48 h and [Mn(PaPy2Q)(NO)]ClO4 inhibited the proliferation of cells in a concentration and time-dependent manner. Then we also found that [Mn(PaPy2Q)(NO)]ClO4 increased the expression of apoptosis-related proteins (PARP, Bax, Caspase 3/9), inhibited the expression of BCl-2 and increased the activity level of Caspase 3/7, which showed [Mn(PaPy2Q)(NO)]ClO4 promoted prostate cancer cells apoptosis. Next, the results in xenograft mouse model showed that [Mn(PaPy2Q)(NO)]ClO4 also had anti-prostate cancer effects in vivo, and the NO concentration increased in the tumor after near-infrared light irradiation. After [Mn(PaPy2Q)(NO)]ClO4 treatment 6 weeks, tumor volume was significantly reduced, Ki67 and BrdU protein expression was significantly reduced. TUNEL assay results showed that [Mn(PaPy2Q)(NO)]ClO4 could promote the apoptosis of solid tumors in vivo and in a concentration-dependent manner.

Synthesis and evaluation of pyrimidoindole analogs in umbilical cord blood ex vivo expansion.

The scarcity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) significantly hindered their clinical potentials. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has become the leading source of HSCs for both research and clinical applications. But the low content of HSCs in a single UCB unit limited its use only to pediatric patients. Various cytokines and small molecules have demonstrated strong abilities in promoting HSC ex vivo expansion, of which UM171 is the newest and by far the most potent HSC ex vivo expansion agent. In this study, we synthesized 37 pyrimidoindole analogs and identified 6 compounds to be potent in promoting HSC ex vivo expansion. In particular, analog 11 was found to be the most effective in stimulating ex vivo expansion of UCB CD34+ cells and CD34+CD38- cells. Initial data indicated that compound 11 promoted the absolute number of long term HSCs and inhibited their differentiation. UCB HSCs expanded with 11 retained adequate multi-lineage differentiation capacity. In addition, compound 11 is not cytotoxic at its test concentrations, suggesting that it merits further investigation for potential clinical applications.

Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of 6,7-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives as sigma-2 receptor ligands.

Increasing evidences have implicated that sigma-2 receptor is a biomarker and significantly over-expressed in many proliferative cancer cells with no or low expression in normal cells. Sigma-2 receptor selective ligands have been successfully used as valuable tools to study its pharmacological functions, tumor imaging, and cancer therapeutics or adjuvants. 6,7-Dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolinylalkyl benzamides are among a few categories of structures that have demonstrated high affinities and selectivities for sigma-2 receptor and been used extensively as study tools in various tumor imaging and therapy. As a continuous effort, we have synthesized a new series of 6,7-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives and evaluated their affinities for both sigma-1 and sigma-2 receptors. Most of these newly developed analogs showed good to excellent binding affinities for sigma-2 receptor with no or low affinities for sigma-1 receptor. In particular, compounds 3b, 3e, 4b, and 4e demonstrated Ki values of 5-6 nM affinities and excellent selectivities for sigma-2 receptor. In addition, these analogs also demonstrated moderate anticancer activities against human liver Huh-7 tumor cells and human esophagus KYSE-140 cancer cells. But their cytotoxicities seem not to be correlated with their sigma-2 receptor affinities.

Decursin attenuates the amyloid-ß-induced inflammatory response in PC12 cells via MAPK and nuclear factor-κB pathway.

Decursin, the major bioactive component of Angelica gigas Nakai, exhibited neuroprotective properties. Our previous studies showed that decursin conferred neuroprotective effects in PC12 cells induced by Amyloid-ß (Aß)25-35 via antiapoptosis and antioxidant. In this study, the antiinflammatory effects of decursin against PC12 cells injury stimulated by Aß25-35 were assessed. Our results demonstrated that decursin suppressed the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 protein and prostaglandin E2 content which was stimulated by Aß25-35 in PC12 cells. Meanwhile, the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-κB in Aß25-35 -treated PC12 cells was also inhibited by decursin. In addition, decursin suppressed phosphorylation of the two upstream pathway kinases, p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Overall, our findings indicate that decursin exerts protective effects against neuroinflammation stimulated by Aß25-35 in PC12 cells by abolishing cyclooxygenase-2 protein expression through inactivation of nuclear factor-κB via the upstream kinases including p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase. This work provides a new insight into the pharmacological mode of decursin and should facilitate its therapeutic application in treatment of inflammatory disorders.

pH and redox dual stimulate-responsive nanocarriers based on hyaluronic acid coated mesoporous silica for targeted drug delivery.

In this work, we developed a drug-conjugated nanocarrier with "zero premature release" property for actively targeted drug delivery. The pH and redox dual-responsive nanocarrier was fabricated based on hyaluronic acid (HA) modified the mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). Doxorubicin (DOX) was conjugated to MSNs via hydrazone bonds, which can be cleaved in tumor tissue (acidic conditions). To improve specific cellular uptake and stability of nanocarriers, HA was equipped with an outer shell on the nanoparticle surface via a disulfide crosslinker. Stimulus-induced release of the DOX was studied in the different pH and GSH, which showed the embedded DOX can be controlled release from MSN channels. The dual-triggered drug release system provides an efficient targeted drug delivery system into the cytosol of cancer cells. The results of flow cytometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that the HA-functionalized DOX-conjugated nanoparticles presented much better cellular uptake and higher cytotoxicity to tumor cells. This drug delivery system has great potential for tumor-trigged drug release for cancer therapy.