Investigating Structural Requirements for the Antiproliferative Activity of Biphenyl Nicotinamides

New benzamide derivatives and their nicotinamide/cinnamamide analogs as cholinesterase inhibitors

In this study, a total of 18 new benzamide/ nicotinamide/ cinnamamide derivative compounds were designed and synthesized for the first time (except B1 and B5) by conventional and microwave irradiation methods. The chemical structures of the synthesized compounds were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and HRMS spectra. In vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibition effects of the compounds were evaluated to find out new possible drug candidate molecule/s. According to the inhibition results, the IC50 values of the compounds synthesized were in the range of 10.66-83.03 nM towards AChE, while they were in the range of 32.74-66.68 nM towards BuChE. Tacrine was used as the reference drug and its IC50 values were 20.85 nM and 15.66 nM towards AChE and BuChE, respectively. The most active compounds B4 (IC50: 15.42 nM), N4 (IC50: 12.14 nM), and C4 (IC50: 10.67 nM) in each series towards AChE were docked at the binding site of AChE enzyme to explain the inhibitory activities of each series. On the other hand, the compounds B4, N4, and C4 showed satisfactory pharmacokinetic properties via the prediction of ADME profiles.

Hydroxy-Propil-β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes of two Biphenylnicotinamide Derivatives: Formulation and Anti-Proliferative Activity Evaluation in Pancreatic Cancer Cell Models

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive malignancies, with poor outcomes largely due to its unique microenvironment, which is responsible for the low response to drugs and drug-resistance phenomena. This clinical need led us to explore new therapeutic approaches for systemic PDAC treatment by the utilization of two newly synthesized biphenylnicotinamide derivatives, PTA73 and PTA34, with remarkable antitumor activity in an in vitro PDAC model. Given their poor water solubility, inclusion complexes of PTA34 and PTA73 in Hydroxy-Propil-β-Cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) were prepared in solution and at the solid state. Complexation studies demonstrated that HP-β-CD is able to form stable host–guest inclusion complexes with PTA34 and PTA73, characterized by a 1:1 apparent formation constant of 503.9 M⁻¹ and 369.2 M⁻¹, respectively (also demonstrated by the Job plot), and by an increase in aqueous solubility of about 150 times (from 1.95 µg/mL to 292.5 µg/mL) and 106 times (from 7.16 µg/mL to 762.5 µg/mL), in the presence of 45% w/v of HP-β-CD, respectively. In vitro studies confirmed the high antitumor activity of the complexed PTA34 and PTA73 towards PDAC cells, the strong G2/M phase arrest followed by induction of apoptosis, and thus their eligibility for PDAC therapy.

Novel Antiproliferative Biphenyl Nicotinamide: NMR Metabolomic Study of its Effect on the MCF-7 Cell in Comparison with Cisplatin and Vinblastine

A 1H-NMR-based metabolomic study was performed on MCF-7 cell lines treated with a novel nicotinamide derivative (DT-8) in comparison with two drugs characterized by a well-established mechanism of action, namely the DNA-metalating drug cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloridoplatinum(II), CDDP) and the antimitotic drug vinblastine (vinblastine, VIN). The effects of the three compounds, each one at the concentration corresponding to the IC50 value, were investigated, with respect to the controls (K), by the 1H-NMR of cells lysates and multivariate analysis (MVA) of the spectroscopic data. Relevant differences were found in the metabolic profiles of the different treatments with respect to the controls. A large overlap of the metabolic profiles in DT-8 vs. K and VIN vs. K suggests a similar biological response and mechanism of action, significantly diverse with respect to CDDP. On the other hand, DT8 seems to act by disorganizing the mitotic spindle and ultimately blocking the cell division, through a mechanism implying methionine depletion and/or S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) limitation.

Synthesis and Cytotoxic Activity of Chiral Sulfonamides Based on the 2-Azabicycloalkane Skeleton

A series of chiral sulfonamides containing the 2-azabicycloalkane scaffold were prepared from aza-Diels-Alder cycloadducts through their conversion to amines based on 2-azanorbornane or the bridged azepane skeleton, followed by the reaction with sulfonyl chlorides. The cytotoxic activity of the obtained bicyclic derivatives was evaluated using human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), medulloblastoma (MB), and glioblastoma (GBM) cell lines. Chosen compounds were shown to notably reduce cell viability as compared to nonmalignant cells.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of N-biphenyl-nicotinic based moiety compounds: A new class of antimitotic agents for the treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma

We previously demonstrated that some N-biphenylanilides caused cell-cycle arrest at G2/M transition in breast cancer cells. Among them we choose three derivatives, namely PTA34, PTA73 and RS35 for experimentation in solid tumor cell lines, classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) cell lines and bona fide normal cell lines. Almost all tumor cells were sensitive to compounds in the nanomolar range whereas, they were not cytotoxic to normal ones. Interestingly the compounds caused a strong G2/M phase arrest in cHL cell lines, thus, here we investigated whether they affected the integrity of microtubules in such cells. We found that they induced a long prometaphase arrest, followed by induction of apoptosis which involved mitochondria. PTA73 and RS35 induced the mitotic arrest through the fragmentation of microtubules which prevented the kinethocore-mitotic spindle interaction and the exit from mitosis. PTA34 is instead a tubulin-targeting agent because it inhibited the tubulin polymerization as vinblastine. As such, PTA34 maintained the Cyclin B1-CDK1 regulatory complex activated during the G2/M arrest while inducing the inactivation of Bcl-2 through phosphorylation in Ser70, the degradation of Mcl-1 and a strong activation of BIML and BIMS proapoptotic isoforms. In addition PTA34 exerted an antiangiogenic effect by suppressing microvascular formation.