Discovery of proqodine A derivatives with antitumor activity targeting NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 and nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase.

NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is a flavin protease highly expressed in various cancer cells. NQO1 catalyzes a futile redox cycle in substrates, leading to substantial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. This ROS generation results in extensive DNA damage and elevated poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1)-mediated consumption of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), ultimately causing cell death. Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), the rate-limiting enzyme in the NAD+ salvage synthesis pathway, emerges as a critical target in cancer therapy. The concurrent inhibition of NQO1 and NAMPT triggers hyperactivation of PARP1 and intensive NAD+ depletion. In this study, we designed, synthesized, and assessed a novel series of proqodine A derivatives targeting both NQO1 and NAMPT. Among these, compound T8 demonstrated potent antitumor properties. Specifically, T8 selectively inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells and induced apoptosis through mechanisms dependent on both NQO1 and NAMPT. This discovery offers a promising new molecular entity for advancing anticancer research.

Enamines as novel antibacterials and their structure-activity relationships.

Twenty-six enamines were synthesized to screen for the antimicrobial activity. Out of the compounds, 22 were reported for the first time. Their chemical structures including E/Z-configurations were clearly determined by 1H NMR, ESI mass spectra and elemental analyses, coupled with three selected single-crystal structures. In general, these synthetic compounds were shown to be more effective to inhibit growth of bacteria than fungi. The most active compound, (E)-ethyl 3-(4-hydroxyphenylamino)-2-(4-chlorophenyl)acrylate (1b), showed considerable antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 with MIC of 0.5 microg/mL and against Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 13525 with MIC of 1.5 microg/mL, which was superior to the positive controls penicillin and kanamycin, respectively. Structure-activity relationship analysis revealed: as for A-ring, the compounds substituted at 3,5-positions were more active than 2,4-position-substituted derivatives, and halo-substituted analogs at 2-position had essentially same activities as the 4-position-substituted derivatives. Increase of steric hindrance around the nitrogen atom led to an inactive compound.