Conformationally Restricted Glycoconjugates Derived from Arylsulfonamides and Coumarins: New Families of Tumour-Associated Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors.

The involvement of carbonic anhydrases (CAs) in a myriad of biological events makes the development of new inhibitors of these metalloenzymes a hot topic in current Medicinal Chemistry. In particular, CA IX and XII are membrane-bound enzymes, responsible for tumour survival and chemoresistance. Herein, a bicyclic carbohydrate-based hydrophilic tail (imidazolidine-2-thione) has been appended to a CA-targeting pharmacophore (arylsulfonamide, coumarin) with the aim of studying the influence of the conformational restriction of the tail on the CA inhibition. For this purpose, the coupling of sulfonamido- or coumarin-based isothiocyanates with reducing 2-aminosugars, followed by the sequential acid-promoted intramolecular cyclization of the corresponding thiourea and dehydration reactions, afforded the corresponding bicyclic imidazoline-2-thiones in good overall yield. The effects of the carbohydrate configuration, the position of the sulfonamido motif on the aryl fragment, and the tether length and substitution pattern on the coumarin were analysed in the in vitro inhibition of human CAs. Regarding sulfonamido-based inhibitors, the best template turned out to be a d-galacto-configured carbohydrate residue, meta-substitution on the aryl moiety (9b), with Ki against CA XII within the low nM range (5.1 nM), and remarkable selectivity indexes (1531 for CA I and 181.9 for CA II); this provided an enhanced profile in terms of potency and selectivity compared to more flexible linear thioureas 1-4 and the drug acetazolamide (AAZ), used herein as a reference compound. For coumarins, the strongest activities were found for substituents devoid of steric hindrance (Me, Cl), and short linkages; derivatives 24h and 24a were found to be the most potent inhibitors against CA IX and XII, respectively (Ki = 6.8, 10.1 nM), and also endowed with outstanding selectivity (Ki > 100 µM against CA I, II, as off-target enzymes). Docking simulations were conducted on 9b and 24h to gain more insight into the key inhibitor-enzyme interactions.

New selenosteroids as antiproliferative agents.

Starting from natural steroids (diosgenin, hecogenin, smilagenin, estrone), we have prepared a wide panel of selenoderivatives, including benzoselenazolones, selenosemicarbazones, isoselenocyanates, selenoureas, selenocyanates and diselenides, with the aim of developing new families of potential chemotherapeutic agents. The modification of the organoselenium moieties, and their position on the steroid provided valuable information concerning the antiproliferative activities. Among all the families accessed herein, the best profile was achieved for selenoureas on the A ring of estrone, which exhibited GI50 values in the range 2.0-4.1 µM for all the tested tumor cell lines, with increased potency compared with commonly used chemotherapeutic agents, like 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin. Cell cycle analysis revealed that selenoureas induced accumulation of cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle in the breast cancer cell lines HBL-100 and T-47D; therefore, a different mechanism than cisplatin, that induces cell cycle accumulation in the S phase as a result of DNA damage, must be involved. In the rest of the tumor cells, a slight increase of the S compartment was observed. Moreover, selenosteoids turned out to be excellent glutathione peroxidase (GPx) mimics for the catalytic removal of deleterious H2O2 (t1/2 8.0-22.5 min) and alkyl peroxides (t1/2 23.0-38.9 min) when used in substoichiometric amounts (1% molar ratio), thus providing a valuable tool for reducing the intrinsic oxidative stress in tumor progression.

Diosgenin-based thio(seleno)ureas and triazolyl glycoconjugates as hybrid drugs. Antioxidant and antiproliferative profile.

The stereoselective preparation of diosgenin-derived thio(seleno)ureas and glycomimetics bearing a 1,2,3-triazolyl tether on C-3 has been accomplished. The key steps in the synthetic pathway are the incorporation of an amino moiety and its further transformation into thio- and selenoureas, and also a click chemistry reaction involving a propargyl residue and an azido moiety to afford carbohydrate-derived 1,2,3-triazoles; subsequent BF3-promoted acetolysis of the spiranic moiety afforded the corresponding 22-oxocholestanic structure. The N-phenyl selenourea, an hitherto unknown steroidal derivative, turned out to be a potent ROS scavenger, in particular against free radicals (EC50 = 29.47 ± 2.33 µM, DPPH method), and as a glutathione peroxidase mimic in the elimination of H2O2 (t1/2 = 4.8 min, 1% molar ratio). 22-Oxocholestane structures bearing a C-3 azido, propargyl, thioureido, and particularly selenoureido moiety behaved as strong antiproliferative agents against HeLa cells (IC50 1.87-11.80 µM). N-phenyl selenourea also exhibited IC50 values lower than 6.50 µM for MDA-MB-231, MCF-7 and HepG2 cancer cells; apoptosis was found to be involved in its mode of action. Such compound was also capable of efficiently eliminating ROS endogenously produced by HeLa cells. Antiproliferative properties of thioxo and selenoxo derivatives were stronger than diosgenin.