Rosellichalasins A-H, cytotoxic cytochalasans from the endophytic fungus Rosellinia sp. Glinf021.

Eight new cytochalasans rosellichalasins A-H (1-8), as well as two new shunt metabolites rosellinins A (9) and B (10) before intramolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction in cytochalasan biosynthesis, along with nine known cytochalsans (11-19) were isolated from the endophytic fungus Rosellinia sp. Glinf021, which was derived from the medicinal plant Glycyrrhiza inflata. Their structures were characterized by extensive analysis of 1D and 2D NMR as well as HRESIMS spectra and quantum chemical ECD calculations. The cytotoxic activities of these compounds were evaluated against four human cancer cell lines including HCT116, MDA-MB-231, BGC823, and PANC-1 with IC50 values ranging from 0.5 to 58.2 µM.

Tumor microenvironment-responsive size-changeable and biodegradable HA-CuS/MnO2 nanosheets for MR imaging and synergistic chemodynamic therapy/phototherapy.

Tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive size-changeable and biodegradable nanoplatforms for multimodal therapy possess huge advantages in anti-tumor therapy. Hence, we developed a hyaluronic acid (HA) modified CuS/MnO2 nanosheets (HCMNs) as a multifunctional nanoplatform for synergistic chemodynamic therapy (CDT)/photothermal therapy (PTT)/photodynamic therapy (PDT). The prepared HCMNs exhibited significant NIR light absorption and photothermal conversion efficiency because of the densely deposited ultra-small sized CuS nanoparticles on the surface of MnO2 nanosheet. They could precisely target the tumor cells and rapidly decomposed into small sized nanostructures in the TME, and then efficiently promote intracellular ROS generation through a series of cascade reactions. Moreover, the local temperature elevation induced by photothermal effect also promote the PDT based on CuS nanoparticles and the Fenton-like reaction of Mn2+, thereby enhancing the therapeutic efficiency. Furthermore, the T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was significantly enhanced by the abundant Mn2+ ions from the decomposition process of HCMNs. In addition, the CDT/PTT/PDT synergistic therapy using a single NIR light source exhibited considerable anti-tumor effect via in vitro cell test. Therefore, the developed HCMNs will provide great potential for MR imaging and multimodal synergistic cancer therapy.

Cancer nutritional-immunotherapy with NIR-II laser-controlled ATP release based on material repurposing strategy.

Enlightened by the great success of the drug repurposing strategy in the pharmaceutical industry, in the current study, material repurposing is proposed where the performance of carbonyl iron powder (CIP), a nutritional intervention agent of iron supplement approved by the US FDA for iron deficiency anemia in clinic, was explored in anti-cancer treatment. Besides the abnormal iron metabolic characteristics of tumors, serving as potential targets for CIP-based cancer therapy under the repurposing paradigm, the efficacy of CIP as a catalyst in the Fenton reaction, activator for dihydroartemisinin (DHA), thus increasing the chemo-sensitivity of tumors, as well as a potent agent for NIR-II photothermal therapy (PTT) was fully evaluated in an injectable alginate hydrogel form. The CIP-ALG gel caused a rapid temperature rise in the tumor site under NIR-II laser irradiation, leading to complete ablation in the primary tumor. Further, this photothermal-ablation led to the significant release of ATP, and in the bilateral tumor model, both primary tumor ablation and inhibition of secondary tumor were observed simultaneously under the synergistic tumor treatment of nutritional-photothermal therapy (NT/PTT). Thus, material repurposing was confirmed by our pioneering trial and CIP-ALG-meditated NT/PTT/immunotherapy provides a new choice for safe and efficient tumor therapy.

Vaporization phosphorization-mediated synthesis of phosphorus-doped TiO2 nanocomposites for combined photodynamic and photothermal therapy of renal cell carcinoma.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a disease with high incidence and poor prognosis. The conventional treatment involves radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but chemotherapeutic agents are often associated with side effects, i.e., cytotoxicity to nontumor cells. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for ccRCC. We synthesized spherical P/TiO2 nanoparticles (P/TiO2 NPs) by vaporization phosphorization (VP). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) analyses confirmed that the anatase TiO2 surface was successfully doped with phosphorus and produced a large number of oxygen vacancies (OV). Serving as a photosensitizer, P/TiO2 NPs not only extended the photoresponse range to the near-infrared II region (NIR II) but also introduced a donor energy level lower than the TiO2 conduction band, narrowing the band gap, which could facilitate the migration of photogenerated charges and trigger the synergistic treatment of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT). During NIR irradiation in vitro, the P/TiO2 NPs generated local heat and various oxygen radicals, including 1O2, ˙O2-, H2O2, and ˙OH, which damaged the ccRCC cells. In vivo, administration of the P/TiO2 NPs + NIR reduced the tumor volume by 80%, and had the potential to inhibit tumor metastasis by suppressing intratumor neoangiogenesis. The P/TiO2 NPs showed superior safety and efficacy relative to the conventional chemotherapeutic agent used in ccRCC treatment. This study introduced an innovative paradigm for renal cancer treatment, highlighting the potential of P/TiO2 NPs as safe and effective nanomaterials and presenting a compelling new option for clinical applications in anticancer therapy.

Synthesis, biological evaluation and docking studies of N-substituted resveratrol derivatives.

A total of 19 resveratrol derivatives, including 12 imines and 7 amines, were synthesized, among which compounds 1, 5, 6, 7', 11', and 13 are new compounds. The anti-inflammatory and antitumor activities of these compounds were evaluated in vitro. The results revealed that compounds 1, 6, 8', 12, and 12' exhibited significant inhibitory effects (> 50%) on NO production at the concentration of 10 µM and their NO production inhibitory activities have a significant concentration-dependent ability. Additionally, compounds 8' and 12' showed promising COX-2 inhibitory activity, and the molecular docking analysis indicated their stable binding to multiple amino acid residues within the active pocket of COX-2 through hydrogen bonding. Moreover, compound 12' exhibited inhibitory effects on various tumor cell lines and induced apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells, which was not observed with resveratrol alone. Therefore, the N-substituted structural modification of resveratrol would have possibly enhanced the bioactivity of resveratrol and facilitated its application.

The secretome from human-derived mesenchymal stem cells augments the activity of antitumor plant extracts in vitro.

Cancer is understood as a multifactorial disease that involve multiple cell types and phenotypes in the tumor microenvironment (TME). The components of the TME can interact directly or via soluble factors (cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, extracellular vesicles, etc.). Among the cells composing the TME, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) appear as a population with debated properties since it has been seen that they can both promote or attenuate tumor progression. For various authors, the main mechanism of interaction of MSCs is through their secretome, the set of molecules secreted into the extracellular milieu, recruiting, and influencing the behavior of other cells in inflammatory environments where they normally reside, such as wounds and tumors. Natural products have been studied as possible cancer treatments, appealing to synergisms between the molecules in their composition; thus, extracts obtained from Petiveria alliacea (Anamu-SC) and Caesalpinia spinosa (P2Et) have been produced and studied previously on different models, showing promising results. The effect of plant extracts on the MSC secretome has been poorly studied, especially in the context of the TME. Here, we studied the effect of Anamu-SC and P2Et extracts in the human adipose-derived MSC (hAMSC)-tumor cell interaction as a TME model. We also investigated the influence of the hAMSC secretome, in combination with these natural products, on tumor cell hallmarks such as viability, clonogenicity, and migration. In addition, hAMSC gene expression and protein synthesis were evaluated for some key factors in tumor progression in the presence of the extracts by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Multiplex, respectively. It was found that the presence of the hAMSC secretome did not affect the cytotoxic or clonogenicity-reducing activities of the natural extracts on cancer cells, and even this secretome can inhibit the migration of these tumor cells, in addition to the fact that the profile of molecules can be modified by natural products. Overall, our findings demonstrate that hAMSC secretome participation in TME interactions can favor the antitumor activities of natural products.

Synthesis, characterization of novel N-(4-cyano-1,3-oxazol-5-yl)sulfonamide derivatives and in†vitro screening their activity against NCI-60 cancer cell lines.

A novel series of N-(4-cyano-1,3-oxazol-5-yl)sulfonamides have been synthesized and characterized by IR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and chromato-mass-spectrometry. The anticancer activities of all newly synthesized compounds were evaluated via a single high-dose assay (10 µM) against 60 cancer cell lines by the National Cancer Institute (USA) according to its screening protocol. Among them, compounds 2 and 10 exhibited the highest activity against the 60 cancer cell lines panel in the one-dose assay. Compounds 2 and 10 showed inhibitory activity within the GI50 parameter and in five dose analyses. However, their cytostatic activity was only observed against some cancer cell lines, and cytotoxic concentration was outside the maximum used, i. e., >100 µM. The COMPARE analysis showed that the average graphs of the tested compounds have a moderate positive correlation with compounds with the L-cysteine analog and vinblastine (GI50 ) as well as paclitaxel (TGI), which target microtubules. Therefore, disruption of microtubule formation may be one of the mechanisms of the anticancer activity of the tested compounds, especially since among tubulin inhibitors with antitumor activity, compounds with an oxazole motif are widely represented. Therefore, N-(4-cyano-1,3-oxazol-5-yl)sulfonamides may be promising for further functionalization to obtain more active compounds.

Dimeric ent-kauranoids isolated from Isodon japonica var. Glaucocalyx and their anti-inflammatory activities.

The phytochemical investigation of the aerial parts of Isodon japonica var. glaucocalyx afforded four undescribed (glaucocalyxin O-R, 1-4) and six known ent-kauranoids (5-10). Their structures were established using NMR and MS measurements. Compounds 1 and 2 are dimeric ent-kaurane-type diterpenoids. Moreover, the plausible biogenetic pathways for compounds 1 and 2 were proposed as Michael addition between two monomers. Eight compounds were assayed for their anti-inflammatory activity by evaluating NO production in LPS-induced RAW 267.4 cells, and compounds 7, 8 and 9 exhibited relatively remarkable anti-inflammatory activities at 10 µM.

Evaluation and molecular docking study of two flavonoids from Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz and their semi-synthetic derivatives as histone deacetylase inhibitors.

Chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone, 6) and galangin 3-methyl ether (5,7-dihydroxy-3-methoxy flavone, 7) were obtained from the leaves of Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz in 4% and 6% yields, respectively. Both compounds could act as pan-histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. Structural modification of these lead compounds provided thirty-eight derivatives which were further tested as HDAC inhibitors. Compounds 6b, 6c, and 6q were the most potent derivatives with the IC50 values of 97.29 ± 0.63 µM, 91.71 ± 0.27 µM, and 96.87 ± 0.45 µM, respectively. Molecular docking study indicated the selectivity of these three compounds toward HDAC8 and the test against HDAC8 showed IC50 values in the same micromolar range. All three compounds were further evaluated for the anti-proliferative activity against HeLa and A549 cell lines. Compound 6q exhibited the best activity against HeLa cell line with the IC50 value of 13.91 ± 0.34 µM. Moreover, 6q was able to increase the acetylation level of histone H3. These promising HDAC inhibitors deserve investigation as chemotherapeutic agents for treating cancer.

Cordia Dichotoma: A Comprehensive Review of its Phytoconstituents and Endophytic Fungal Metabolites and their Potential Anticancer Effects.

Cordia Dichotoma is a valuable medicinal plant belonging to the family Boraginaceae. It consists of several beneficial secondary metabolite components, including alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, and tannins. Numerous studies have been conducted to assess the anticancer properties of Cordia Dichotoma on MCF-7, A-549, PC3, and HeLa cancer cell lines, primarily utilizing ethanolic extract, methanolic extract, and chloroform extract. The results of these studies have demonstrated significant effects. Furthermore, several studies have revealed the rich phytoconstituent content of Cordia Dichotoma with some significant components previously utilized by researchers to investigate the anticancer properties of specific compounds. This review discusses several of these components, including ß-sitosterol, α-amyrin, Quercitrin, Robinin, betulin, Taxifolin, and Hesperetin. Additionally, a recent study uncovered that the anticancer effect of metabolites from endophytic fungi residing on the Cordia Dichotoma plant is attributed to a property of the plant itself. This review focuses on the current state of anticancer research related to this plant and its components.

The intramolecular SN2 reaction tautomeric ent-Kauranoids isolated from the aerial parts of Isodon amethystoides.

As our ongoing searching for the bioactive natural terpenoids, nine ent-kauranoids (1-9), including three previously undescribed ones (1, 2, and 9), were isolated from the aerial parts of Isodon amethystoides. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data analysis, including NMR, MS, and ECD. Compounds 1 and 2 were a pair of tautomeric compounds, which was confirmed by the HPLC analysis and low temperature NMR testing. The underlying mechanism of the tautomer was proposed as an intramolecular SN2 reaction, which was explained by quantum chemical calculation. The HOMO-LUMO gap and the free energy revealed the spontaneous of the tautomeric of the 1 and 2. Additionally, the similar phenomena were also found in the two groups of known compounds 3 and 4 and 6 and 7, respectively. Apart from the tautomer, compounds 3 and 4 can be hydrolyzed into 5 through ester hydrolysis in CDCl3, while compounds 6, 7 can be hydrolyzed into 8 through ester hydrolysis. These phenomena were also confirmed through HPLC analysis and low temperature nuclear magnetic resonance tests and the mechanism was studied using quantum chemical calculation.

Bioactive diterpenoids isolated from the twigs and leaves of Casearia velutina.

Nine previously undescribed clerodane-type diterpenoids (1-9), named caseabalanspenes A-I, along with six know compounds (10-15), were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Casearia velutina. Spectroscopic data (1D and 2D NMR) analysis permitted the definition of their structures and then determination of the molecular formula of the compound by high resolution mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS). It is worth noting that compound 7 contains N- heterocycle. Compounds 1-8 were tested the anti-inflammasome activity, and compound 3 exhibited potent activity and decreased LDH level in a dose-dependent manner, with IC50 values of 2.90 µM.

Novel pyrimidine Schiff bases and their selenium-containing nanoparticles as dual inhibitors of CDK1 and tubulin polymerase: design, synthesis, anti-proliferative evaluation, and molecular modelling.

Nanotechnology-based strategies can overcome the limitations of conventional cancer therapies. Hence, novel series of pyrimidine Schiff bases (4-9) were employed in the synthesis of selenium nanoparticle forms (4NPs-9NPs). All selenium nano-sized forms exerted greater inhibitions than normal-sized compounds, far exceeding 5-fluorouracil activity. Compound 4 showed effective anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7(IC50 3.14 ± 0.04 µM), HepG-2(IC50 1.07 ± 0.03 µM), and A549(IC50 1.53 ± 0.01 µM) cell lines, while its selenium nanoform 4NPs showed excellent inhibitory effects, with efficacy increased by 96.52%, 96.45%, and 93.86%, respectively. Additionally, 4NPs outperformed 4 in selectivity against the Vero cell line by 4.5-fold. Furthermore, 4NPs exhibited strong inhibition of CDK1(IC50 0.47 ± 0.3 µM) and tubulin polymerase(IC50 0.61 ± 0.04 µM), outperforming 4 and being comparable to roscovitine (IC50 0.27 ± 0.03 µM) and combretastatin-A4(IC50 0.25 ± 0.01 µM), respectively. Moreover, both 4 and 4NPs arrested the cell cycle at G0/G1 phase and significantly forced the cells towards apoptosis. Molecular docking demonstrated that 4 and 4NPs were able to inhibit CDK1 and tubulin polymerase binding sites.

Synthesis, antioxidant, antiproliferative activity, molecular docking and DFT studies of novel isoxazole derivatives of diosgenin, a steroidal sapogenin from Dioscorea deltoidea.

Diosgenin [25R-spirost-5-en-3ß-ol], isolated from Dioscorea deltoidea was used as a starting material for synthesizing its various isoxazole derivatives. A library of fifteen isoxazole analogues (DG1-DG15) were synthesised via modification at the C-3 hydroxyl group. The resulting analogues were fully characterized by spectral techniques and evaluated for their antioxidant and anticancer activity against four breast cancer cell lines; MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, MCF-7, and 4 T1, using MTT assay. Molecular docking studies were carried out for all analogues with EGFR protein (PDB id: 6LUD) to check their activity by inhibiting EGFR protein, which is an effective strategy for cancer cell death. Furthermore, DFT studies were carried out for four analogues. Among all analogues, compound DG6 and DG9 showed the highest scavenging activity and compound DG9 exhibited a maximum cytotoxic effect on the MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 cell lines with an IC50 value of 6.25 µg/mL and 6.81 µg/mL, while compound DG5 was the least potent (IC50 25.89 µg/mL). Molecular docking results revealed that DG8 and DG9 afforded the highest binding energy of -14.33 and - 14.71 kcal/mol, respectively for the target EGFR protein. These results demonstrate the potential of diosgenin analogues as drug candidates for breast cancer therapy. Furthermore, DFT studies revealed that the molecules are more polarizable and have smaller energy gap between their HOMO and LUMO orbitals, the smallest being of DG9 (3.221 eV) and hence are more reactive.

Design, synthesis, cytotoxic activity, and in silico studies of nitrogenous stilbenes.

In present study, five series of 45 nitrogenous stilbenes including 35 new compounds were designed, synthesized, and assayed for cytotoxic activities against two human tumor cell lines (K562 cells and MDA-MB-231 cells) and normal cell line (L-02 cells). Structure-activity relationships showed the introduction of N,N-dimethylamino enhanced the cytotoxicities toward K562 cells and compounds with N-methyl piperazine displayed stronger potency toward MDA-MB-231 cells. Among them, compound NS1i possessed extremely potent cytotoxicity with IC50 values 0.93 µM against K562 cells along with excellent selectivity on normal cell viability. Moreover, in silico target prediction and molecule docking demonstrated quinone reductase 2 may be the potential target for NS1i. In summary, nitrogenous stilbenes afford significant potential for the discovery of new highly efficient anticancer agents and NS1i may serve as a promising lead deserve further investigation.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel demethylzeylasteral derivatives as potential anticancer agents.

Demethylzeylasteral (DEM), a class of terpenoids isolated from natural plants, frequently exhibits moderate or limited inhibitory effect on tumor growth across multiple cancer types. Thus, here we attempted to elevate the anti-tumor efficacy of DEM by altering active groups in its chemical structure. Initially, we synthesized a series of novel DEM derivatives 1-21 through performing a series of modifications of its phenolic hydroxyl groups at C-2/3, C-4 and C-29 positions. The anti-proliferative activities of these new compounds were subsequently assessed using three human cancer cell line models (A549, HCT116 and HeLa) and CCK-8 assay. Our data showed that compared to original DEM compound, derivative 7 exhibited remarkable inhibition effect on A549 (16.73 ± 1.07 µM), HCT116 (16.26 ± 1.94 µM) and HeLa (17.07 ± 1.09 µM), almost reaching to the same level of DOX. Moreover, the structure-activity relationships (SARs) of the synthesized DEM derivatives were discussed in detail. We found that treatment with derivative 7 only led to moderate cell cycle arrest at S-phase in a concentration-dependent manner. Meanwhile, derivative 7 treatment markedly induced apoptosis in tumor cells. Consistent with this observation, our subsequent docking analysis showed that derivative 7 is capable of activating caspase-3 through interaction with the His 121 and Gly 122 residues of the enzyme. Overall, we have developed a new series of DEM derivatives with elevated anti-tumor efficacy relative to its parent form. The results suggested that derivative 7 has great potential to be employed as an anticancer agent candidate for natural product-based cancer chemotherapy.

Design and synthesis of 2,6-dihalogenated stilbene derivatives as potential anti-inflammatory and antitumor agents.

In present study, three series of 2,6-dihalogenated stilbene derivatives were designed, synthesized, and assayed for anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities. All 62 compounds showed potential anti-inflammatory activity in zebrafish model in vivo, and the installation of halogens and pyridines led to significant improved effects. Among them, DHS2u and DHS3u with the substitution of pyridine showed more higher effects than positive drug indomethacin at 20 µM with inhibitory rate of 94.59% and 90.54%, respectively. Besides, DHS3g bearing 2,5-dimethoxy exhibited potent cytotoxic activity against K562 cells with IC50 values 3.12 µM along with a suitable selectivity on normal cell viability. These results showed that 2,6-dihalogenated stilbenes could serve as a bright starting point for the further development as anti-inflammatory and antitumor agents.

Design, Synthesis and Antitumor Activity of Novel Selenium-Containing Tepotinib Derivatives as Dual Inhibitors of c-Met and TrxR.

Cellular mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-Met), an oncogenic transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), plays an essential role in cell proliferation during embryo development and liver regeneration. Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) is overexpressed and constitutively active in most tumors closely related to cancer recurrence. Multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) strategy provides a logical approach to drug combinations and would adequately address the pathological complexity of cancer. In this work, we designed and synthesized a series of selenium-containing tepotinib derivatives by means of selenium-based bioisosteric modifications and evaluated their antiproliferative activity. Most of these selenium-containing hybrids exhibited potent dual inhibitory activity toward c-Met and TrxR. Among them, compound 8b was the most active, with an IC50 value of 10 nM against MHCC97H cells. Studies on the mechanism of action revealed that compound 8b triggered cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase and caused ROS accumulations by targeting TrxR, and these effects eventually led to cell apoptosis. These findings strongly suggest that compound 8b serves as a dual inhibitor of c-Met and TrxR, warranting further exploitation for cancer therapy.

Synthesis of selenophene-based chalcone analogs and assessment of their biological activity as anticancer agents.

Selenium is an essential micronutrient that is beneficial to human health. Selenium-containing drugs have been developed as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer agents. However, the synthesis of selenium-containing chalcones has not been fully explored. Therefore, we report the synthesis of novel selenophene-based chalcone analogs and reveal their biological activities as anticancer agents. Among the seven synthesized molecules, compounds 6, 8, and 10 exhibited anticancer activity with IC50 values of 19.98 ± 3.38, 38.23 ± 3.30, and 46.95 ± 5.68 µM, respectively, against human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29) cells. Clonogenic assays and Western blot analysis tests further confirmed that compound 6 effectively induced apoptosis in HT-29 cells through mitochondrial- and caspase-3-dependent pathways.

Discovery of Novel 3,11-Bispeptide Ester Arenobufagin Derivatives with Potential in Vivo Antitumor Activity and Reduced Cardiotoxicity.

Arenobufagin, one of the bufadienolides isolated from traditional Chinese medicine Chan'su, exhibits potent antitumor activity. However, serious toxicity and small therapeutic window limits its drug development. In the present study, to our knowledge, novel 3,11-bispeptide ester arenobufagin derivatives have been firstly designed and synthesized on the base of our previous discovery of active 3-monopeptide ester derivative. The in vitro antiproliferative activity evaluation revealed that the moiety at C3 and C11 hydroxy had an important influence on cytotoxic activity and selectivity. Compound ZM350 notably inhibited tumor growth by 58.8 % at a dose 10 mg/kg in an A549 nude mice xenograft model. Therefore, compound ZM350 also presented a concentration-dependent apoptosis induction and low inhibitory effect against both hERG potassium channel and Cav1.2 calcium channel. Our study suggests that novel 3,11-bispeptide ester derivatives will be a potential benefit to further antitumor agent development of arenobufagin.