Treatment with a New Barbituric Acid Derivative Exerts Antiproliferative and Antimigratory Effects against Sorafenib Resistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cause of cancer death worldwide. Sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, is the first-line drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with advanced HCC. However, most patients who continuously receive sorafenib may acquire resistance to this drug. Therefore, it is important to develop a new compound to treat liver cancer and sorafenib-resistant liver cancer. Barbituric acid derivatives have been used as antiasthmatic drugs in the clinic. We previously reported that a novel barbituric acid derivative inhibited carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in mice, but its effects on liver cancer remain unknown. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the antitumor effect of barbituric acid derivatives on HCC cells and sorafenib-resistant HCC cells (HCC-SRs). Our findings reveal that one of the barbituric acid derivatives, BA-5, significantly inhibited HCC and HCC-SR cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Therefore, compound BA-5 was selected for further experiments. Western blot data revealed that BA-5 treatment decreased the phosphorylation of AKT/p70s6k without affecting the MAPK pathway and increased cleaved PARP and cleaved caspase-7 in both HCC and HCC-SR cells. Since epithelial-mesenchymal transition plays a significant role in regulating cancer invasion and migration, we used the wound healing assay to evaluate the antimigratory effect of compound BA-5. The results showed that BA-5 treatment inhibited HCC and HCC-SR cell migration and reduced Vimentin protein expression. These results were confirmed by microarray analysis showing that BA-5 treatment influenced cancer cell motility and growth-related pathways. In the xenograft mouse model experiment, BA-5 administration significantly inhibited HCC cancer cell growth in mice. Furthermore, the combination of BA-5 with a low dose of regorafenib synergistically inhibited HCC-SR cell proliferation. In conclusion, our study showed that the barbituric acid derivative BA-5 is a new candidate for HCC and sorafenib-resistant HCC therapy.

A reusable magnetic nickel nanoparticle based catalyst for the aqueous synthesis of diverse heterocycles and their evaluation as potential anti-bacterial agent.

A library of biologically important heterocycles, viz. pyrazolyl pyrimidine-triones, bis(heterocyclyl)methanes were successfully synthesised by the condensation of barbituric acid, pyrazolone with an aldehyde and dimedone/4-hydoxy coumarin with various substituted aldehydes in aqueous medium at room temperature catalysed by nickel nanoparticles which proved to be an efficient magnetically recyclable catalyst. The method is simple, eco-friendly and gave excellent yields of the products without taking recourse to column chromatographic separation procedures. Computational method was employed to elucidate the selective formation of uncyclised product in reaction course. The biological activity of the synthesized compounds were investigated and the results demonstrated profound antibacterial activity.

Responding to the challenge of untreatable gonorrhea: ETX0914, a first-in-class agent with a distinct mechanism-of-action against bacterial Type II topoisomerases.

With the diminishing effectiveness of current antibacterial therapies, it is critically important to discover agents that operate by a mechanism that circumvents existing resistance. ETX0914, the first of a new class of antibacterial agent targeted for the treatment of gonorrhea, operates by a novel mode-of-inhibition against bacterial type II topoisomerases. Incorporating an oxazolidinone on the scaffold mitigated toxicological issues often seen with topoisomerase inhibitors. Organisms resistant to other topoisomerase inhibitors were not cross-resistant with ETX0914 nor were spontaneous resistant mutants to ETX0914 cross-resistant with other topoisomerase inhibitor classes, including the widely used fluoroquinolone class. Preclinical evaluation of ETX0914 pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics showed distribution into vascular tissues and efficacy in a murine Staphylococcus aureus infection model that served as a surrogate for predicting efficacious exposures for the treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections. A wide safety margin to the efficacious exposure in toxicological evaluations supported progression to Phase 1. Dosing ETX0914 in human volunteers showed sufficient exposure and minimal adverse effects to expect a highly efficacious anti-gonorrhea therapy.

Anharmonic IR and Raman spectra and electronic and vibrational (hyper)polarizabilities of barbituric, 2-thiobarbituric and 2-selenobarbituric acids.

Infrared, Raman and electronic absorption spectra, electronic and vibrational (hyper)polarizabilities, of barbituric, 2-thiobarbituric and 2-selenobarbituric acids were studied in gas using ab initio and density functional theory levels. The vibrational spectra were computed using harmonic and anharmonic methods. Anharmonic contributions improve the agreement between calculated and available experimental wavenumbers, especially in the highest-energy spectral region (wavenumbers >1700 cm(-1)). Vibrational and electronic transitions potentially useful to identify the investigated compounds were explored. The electronic and vibrational hyperpolarizabilities for the IDRI nonlinear optical (NLO) process at the λ value of 790 nm were computed. Supported by spectroscopic results, electronic and vibrational polarizabilities and second-order hyperpolarizabilities increase progressively in the order barbituric acid<2-thiobarbituric acid<2-selenobarbituric acid. The seleno-derivative is predicted to be ca. three/four times more hyperpolarizable than the barbituric acid. The Se→O or Se→S substitutions can be practical strategies to enhances the NLO properties of barbituric and thiobarbituric acid-based materials.

Discovery of thiazolidine-2,4-dione/biphenylcarbonitrile hybrid as dual PPAR α/γ modulator with antidiabetic effect: in vitro, in silico and in vivo approaches.

A small series of thiazolidine-2,4-dione and barbituric acid derivatives 1-4 was prepared using a short synthetic route, and all compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, and NMR ((1)H, (13)C) spectroscopy. Their in vitro relative expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ was evaluated. Compound 1 showed an increase in the mRNA expression of both peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor isoforms, as well as the GLUT-4 levels. The antidiabetic activity of compound 1 was determined at 50 mg/kg single dose using a non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus rat model. The results indicated a significant decrease in plasma glucose levels. Additionally, we performed a molecular docking of compound 1 into the ligand binding pocket of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ. In these binding models, compound 1 may bind into the active site of both isoforms showing important short contacts with the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ residues: Tyr 473, His 449, Ser 289, His 323; and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α residues: Tyr 464, His 440, Ser 280 and Tyr 314.

Targeting the apoptotic pathway with BCL-2 inhibitors sensitizes primary chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells to vesicular stomatitis virus-induced oncolysis.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by clonal accumulation of CD5(+) CD19(+) B lymphocytes that are arrested in the G(0)/G(1) phase of the cell cycle and fail to undergo apoptosis because of overexpression of the antiapoptotic B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) protein. Oncolytic viruses, such as vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), have emerged as potential anticancer agents that selectively target and kill malignant cells via the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. Although primary CLL cells are largely resistant to VSV oncolysis, we postulated that targeting the apoptotic pathway via inhibition of BCL-2 may sensitize CLL cells to VSV oncolysis. In the present study, we examined the capacity of EM20-25--a small-molecule antagonist of the BCL-2 protein--to overcome CLL resistance to VSV oncolysis. We demonstrate a synergistic effect of the two agents in primary ex vivo CLL cells (combination index of 0.5; P < 0.0001). In a direct comparison of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers with primary CLL, the two agents combined showed a therapeutic index of 19-fold; furthermore, the combination of VSV and EM20-25 increased apoptotic cell death in Karpas-422 and Granta-519 B-lymphoma cell lines (P < 0.005) via the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. Mechanistically, EM20-25 blocked the ability of the BCL-2 protein to dimerize with proapoptotic BAX protein, thus sensitizing CLL to VSV oncolytic stress. Together, these data indicate that the use of BCL-2 inhibitors may improve VSV oncolysis in treatment-resistant hematological malignancies, such as CLL, with characterized defects in the apoptotic response.

Bonding of autopolymerizing acrylic resins to magnetic stainless steel alloys using metal conditioner.

OBJECTIVES: The shear bond strengths of a barbituric acid derivative-activated autopolymerizing acrylic resin to two magnetic stainless steel alloys using a metal conditioner were investigated. METHODS: The surfaces of the two magnetic stainless steel alloys were abraded with 600-grit silicon carbide paper. The surface preparations were: Group 1 (without preparation), Group 2 (airborne particle abrasion with 50 microm alumina), and Group 3 (airborne particle abrasion followed by priming with a metal conditioner). The alloys were bonded with a barbituric acid derivative-activated autopolymerizing acrylic resin. For comparison, airborne particle abrasion and bonding with a tri-n-butylborane-initiated autopolymerizing acrylic resin (Group 4), as well as airborne particle abrasion followed by priming with a metal conditioner and bonding with the same resin (Group 5) were added. Half of the specimens were thermocycled up to 10,000 cycles. The shear bond strengths were determined. RESULTS: Group 3 had significantly improved shear bond strengths with the barbituric acid derivative-activated autopolymerizing acrylic resin to both stainless steel alloys. Although there were no significant differences in the bond strength among Groups 3-5 before thermocycling, the decrease in the bond strength of Group 3 was considerably greater than that of Groups 4 or 5 after thermocycling for both stainless steel alloys. CONCLUSIONS: Significant improvements in the bond strength of the barbituric acid derivative-activated autopolymerizing acrylic resin to two magnetic stainless steel alloys were achieved by airborne particle abrasion followed by priming with the metal conditioner. The bond durability to this resin, however, was inferior to that to a tri-n-butylborane-initiated autopolymerizing acrylic resin.

Reactions of 3-formylchromone with active methylene and methyl compounds and some subsequent reactions of the resulting condensation products.

This review presents a survey of the condensations of 3-formylchromone with various active methylene and methyl compounds, e.g. malonic or barbituric acid derivatives, five-membered heterocycles, etc. The utilisation of the condensation products for the synthesis of different heterocyclic systems, which is based on the ability of the gamma-pyrone ring to be opened by the nucleophilic attack is also reviewed. Finally, the applications of microwave irradiation as an unconventional method of reaction activation in the synthesis of condensation products is described and the biological activity of some chromone derivatives is noted.

Comparative study of membrane potential-sensitive fluorescent probes and their use in ion channel screening assays.

In this study, the authors compared and evaluated 4 membrane potential probes in the same cellular assay: the oxonol dye DiBAC(4)(3), the FLIPR membrane potential (FMP) dye (Molecular Devices), and 2 novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) dye systems from PanVera [CC2-DMPE/DiSBAC(2)(3)] and Axiom [DiSBAC(1)(3)/DiSBAC(1)(5)]. The kinetic parameters of each membrane probe were investigated in RBL-2H3 cells expressing an endogenous inward rectifier potassium channel (IRK1). The FMP dye presented the highest signal over background ratio whereas the FRET dyes from PanVera gave the fastest response. The determination of IC(50) values for 8 different channel modulators indicated a good correlation between the 4 membrane probe systems. The compound-dye interaction was evaluated in the presence of compounds at 10 muM and clearly indicated no effect on the FMP or the PanVera donor dye, whereas some major interference with the oxonol probes was observed. Using a cell permeabilization assay in the presence of gramicidin, the authors concluded that the FRET dyes from PanVera and the FMP dye are unable to measure the gramicidin-induced cell membrane hyperpolarizations. The 4 dye systems were investigated under high-throughput screening (HTS) conditions, and their respective Z' parameter was determined. The characteristics of each dye system and its potential use in HTS assays is discussed.

Selective adhesion, lipid exchange and membrane-fusion processes between vesicles of various sizes bearing complementary molecular recognition groups.

Equimolar mixtures of large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) obtained from mixtures of egg lecithin and lipids containing complementary hydrogen bonding head groups (barbituric acid (BAR) and 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine (TAP)) were shown to aggregate and fuse. These events have been studied in detail using electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering, and by fluorimetry using membrane or water-soluble fluorescence probes. It was shown that aggregation was followed by two competitive processes: a) lipid mixing leading to redispersion of the vesicles; b) fusion events generating much larger vesicles. In order to better understand the nature of the interaction, the effects of ionic strength and surface concentration of recognition lipids on the aggregation process were investigated by dynamic light scattering. Additionally, it was possible to inhibit the aggregation kinetics through addition of a soluble barbituric acid competitor. The study was extended to giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) to investigate the size effect and visualise the phenomena in situ. The interactions between complementary LUVs and GUVs or GUVs and GUVs were studied by optical microscopy using dual fluorescent labelling of both vesicle populations. A selective adhesion of LUVs onto GUVs was observed by electron and optical microscopies, whereas no aggregation took place in case of a GUV/GUV mixture. Furthermore, a fusion assay of GUV and LUV using the difference of size between GUV and LUV and calceine self-quenching showed that no mixing between the aqueous pools occured.

Molecular complexes of iron violurate with donor amines.

The acceptor character of iron violurate complex was studied by examining the electronic, vibrational and 1H-nmr spectra of the charge transfer molecular complexes formed between the iron violurate as pi-acceptor and some amines as n-donors. Elemental analysis and spectral results establishes 1:2 stoichiometry of the adducts. The study has been conducted at different temperatures. Values of delta G degree, delta H degree and delta S degree have been calculated from the self-consistent values of the formation constants (KCT). Ionization potentials of the donors have been calculated and the solvent effect on the KCT values is discussed. The antibacterial and antifungal effects of the molecular complexes were studied.