4-Amino-1,8-naphthalimide-ferrocene conjugates as potential multi-targeted anticancer and fluorescent cellular imaging agents.

Herein we present eight ferrocenyl 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimides. Designed as fluorescent logic gates for acidity and oxidisability, the molecules have been repurposed as anti-proliferation and cellular imaging agents. The compounds were studied in vitro against MCF-7 and K562 cancer cell lines by the MTT method. Compounds with protonable secondary amines tended to exhibit greater cytotoxicity than those with tertiary amines. Compounds with no measurable GI50 values within a 24 hour time window, as well as at shorter exposure times, may be suitable as fluorescent cellular imaging probes.

Aminonaphthalimide hybrids of mitoxantrone and amonafide as anticancer and fluorescent cellular imaging agents.

Novel water-soluble 4-aminonaphthalimides were synthesised and their cellular fluorescent imaging, cytotoxicity and ability to induced apoptosis evaluated. The lead compound 1 was designed from the cross-fertilisation of the basic hydrophilic amino pharmacophore of mitoxantrone, and an aminonaphthalimide scaffold of the drug candidate, amonafide. The compounds are also fluorescent pH probes based on photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and internal charge transfer (ICT). The compounds are sensitive to solvent polarity with large Stoke shifts (>90 nm) and provide emissive-coloured solutions (blue to yellow). Excited state pKas of 9.0-9.3 and fluorescence quantum yields of 0.47-0.58 were determined in water. The cytotoxicity and cellular fluorescent imaging properties of the compounds were tested on human cancer cell lines K562 and MCF-7 by the MTT assay, phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy. Compounds 1 and 3 with flexible aminoalkyl chains exhibited GI50 comparable to amonafide, while 2 and 4 with a rigid piperazine moiety and butyl chain are less cytotoxic. Fluorescence microscopy with 1 allowed for the visualization of the intracellular microenvironment exemplifying the potential utility of such hybrid molecules as anticancer and fluorescent cellular imaging agents.

Essential Oil Composition of Summer and Winter Foliage of Chiliadenus bocconei.

The composition of the essential oil (EO) obtained from dry leaves of Chiliadenus bocconei Brullo (Asteraceae subfam. Inulae), a Maltese endemic aromatic plant, collected in two different seasons, was evaluated in this work. The main EO components identified in the summer foliage were camphor (25.6%), borneol (27.1%) and τ-cadinol (13.9%). In the winter foliage τ-cadinol was the most represented compound (59.5%), followed by camphor (13.1). A comparison is also made between the EO composition of the two samples of C. bocconei and the EO obtained from different aerial parts of C. lopadusanus, an endemic plant of Lampedusa Island, another Mediterranean Island.

An extract from Ricinus communis L. leaves possesses cytotoxic properties and induces apoptosis in SK-MEL-28 human melanoma cells.

Plants are an important source of several clinically useful anti-cancer agents. A volatile extract was obtained from Ricinus communis L. (Euphorbiaceae) leaves by standard hydrodistillation and subsequent extraction of the cohobated water in chloroform. GC-MS identified three monoterpenoids: 1,8-cineole, camphor and alpha-pinene, and a sesquiterpenoid: beta-caryophyllene, as the main constituents. The leaf extract is cytotoxic to several human tumour cell lines in a dose-dependent fashion, with IC(50) values ranging between 10-40 microg mL(-1). Apoptosis was shown to be induced in SK-MEL-28 human melanoma cells at a concentration of 20 microg mL(-1), as identified by means of morphological examination, nuclear staining and flow cytometric analysis of DNA content. Translocation of phosphatidyl serine to the cell membrane's external surface and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential were also detected. This study provides further insight into the potential use of mixtures of terpenoids as they occur in nature, as inducers of apoptosis in cancer cells.