Ester and amide derivatives of rhodamine B exert cytotoxic effects on different human tumor cell lines

Sialic acid detection and theranostic activity of phenylboronic acid-based fluorescent probe in human colorectal adenocarcinoma HT-29 cells

A new probe, 4-(((3',6'-bis(diethylamino)-3-oxospiro[isoindoline-1,9'-xanthen]-2-yl)imino)methyl)phenyl)boronic acid (R4B) was prepared by facile condensation of 4-formylphenylboronic acid and rhodamine B hydrazide. R4B was characterized by spectroscopic methods and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The sensor R4B solution turned pink and emitted orange fluorescence only in the presence of sialic acid but remained colorless and non-fluorescent otherwise. The sugar recognition performance was investigated via UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopic studies. Our results revealed that R4B has good affinity and selectivity for sialic acid over common monosaccharides, with a detection limit as low as 10-7 M. Furthermore, R4B selectively inhibited growth of human colorectal adenocarcinoma HT-29 (IC50 <20 µM) without significant cytotoxicity to normal human colon fibroblasts CCD-18Co. Treatment with R4B suppressed HT-29 colony formation via mitochondrial apoptosis in a time-dependent manner. Cellular imaging studies also revealed the ability of R4B as a fluorescence dye to detect intracellular sialic acid and showed mitochondria-tracking ability in HT-29 cells. In summary, R4B is a potential theranostic for the detection of intracellular sialic acid during the early incubation period, followed by induction of cancer apoptotic cell death at a later treatment point.

Evaluating the impact of cell-penetrating motif position on the cellular uptake of magnetite nanoparticles

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been employed to enhance the cellular uptake and intracellular delivery of various nanocarriers. Among them, nanoparticles (NPs) have been used as suitable vehicles for delivering different bioactive molecules in the treatment of a diverse range of diseases. Given the pivotal role of the conjugation method of CPPs, this study aims to evaluate the impact of the position of a cell-penetrating motif (LFVCR) on the biocompatibility, cellular uptake, and endosomal escape of magnetite NPs. The designed peptide's physicochemical properties suggest they are well-suited for efficient cell penetration with minimal cytotoxicity. The resulting designed nanoconjugates were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that motif position significantly impacts the cellular uptake and endosomal escape of the designed nanobioconjugates. Key findings suggest that motif exposure enhances endocytosis-mediated cell internalization and improves endosomal escape efficiency. These results were compared with nanobioconjugates displaying previously reported CPPs. The selected nanobioconjugate demonstrated superior performance in endosomal escape and comparable cell uptake to the reference nanobioconjugates. These results, along with the nanobioconjugate's physicochemical characteristics and high biocompatibility, position the nanocarrier as a suitable candidate for delivering diverse bioactive molecules.

An innovative fluorescent probe based on dicyanoisoflurone derivatives for differential detection of Hg2+ and Cu2+ and its applications in bacteria, cell imaging and food analysis

BACKGROUND

Heavy metal pollution has become one of the world's most important environmental pollution, especially Hg2+ is enriched, it is easy to enter the human body through the food chain, bind to the sulfhydryl group in the protein, cause mercury poisoning. Traditional methods for detecting Hg2+ have obvious drawbacks, such as poor selectivity and long detection time. Fluorescence detection has attracted attention because of its good sensitivity and specificity detection ability. In previously reported probes for detecting Hg2+, Cu2+ often interferes. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to synthesize a fluorescent probe that can distinguish between Hg2+ and Cu2+.

RESULTS

We have successfully synthesized the probe DFS, a fluorescent probe that can differentially detect Hg2+ and Cu2+, and the probe DFS has good selectivity and anti-interference ability for Hg2+ and Cu2+. The fluorescence intensity at 530 nm increased rapidly when Hg2+ was detected; during the Cu2+ detection, the fluorescence intensity at 636 nm gradually decreased, fluorescence quenching occurred, and the detection limits of Hg2+ and Cu2+ were 7.29 × 10-9 M and 2.13 × 10-9 M, respectively. Through biological experiments, it was found that probe DFS can complete the fluorescence imaging of Hg2+ and Cu2+ in Staphylococcus aureus and HUVEC cells, which has certain research value in the field of environmental monitoring and microbiology, and the probe DFS has low cytotoxicity, so it also has broad application prospects in the field of biological imaging. In addition, the probe DFS also has good applicability for Hg2+ and Cu2+ detection in actual samples.

SIGNIFICANCE AND NOVELTY

This is a fluorescent probe that can distinguish between Hg2+ and Cu2+, the fluorescence emission peak appears at 530 nm when Hg2+ is detected; when detecting Cu2+, fluorescence quenching occurs at 636 nm, the fluorescence emission peak distance between Hg2+ and Cu2+ differs by 106 nm. This reduces mutual interference between Hg2+ and Cu2+ during detection, it provides a new idea for the detection of Hg2+ and Cu2+.

In vivo biodistribution of kinetically stable Pt2L4 nanospheres that show anti-cancer activity

There is an increasing interest in the application of metal-organic cages (MOCs) in a biomedicinal context, as they can offer non-classical distribution in organisms compared to molecular substrates, while revealing novel cytotoxicity mechanisms. Unfortunately, many MOCs are not sufficiently stable under in vivo conditions, making it difficult to study their structure-activity relationships in living cells. As such, it is currently unclear whether MOC cytotoxicity stems from supramolecular features or their decomposition products. Herein, we describe the toxicity and photophysical properties of highly-stable rhodamine functionalized platinum-based Pt₂L₄ nanospheres as well as their building blocks under in vitro and in vivo conditions. We show that in both zebrafish and human cancer cell lines, the Pt₂L₄ nanospheres demonstrate reduced cytotoxicity and altered biodistribution within the body of zebrafish embryos compared to the building blocks. We anticipate that the composition-dependent biodistribution of Pt₂L₄ spheres together with their cytotoxic and photophysical properties provides the fundament for MOC application in cancer therapy.

Mitochondria-Targeting 1,5-Diazacyclooctane-Spacered Triterpene Rhodamine Conjugates Exhibit Cytotoxicity at Sub-Nanomolar Concentration against Breast Cancer Cells

1,5-Diazacyclooctane was prepared by a simple synthetic sequence and coupled to pentacyclic triterpenoic acids oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, betulinic acid, platanic acid, and asiatic acid; these amides were activated with oxalyl chloride and reacted with rhodamine B or rhodamine 101 to yield conjugates. The conjugates were screened in SRB assays with various human breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, HS578T, MCF-7, and T47D) and found to exert cytotoxic activity even at a low concentration. Therefore, for an asiatic acid rhodamine 101 conjugate (28), an IC₅₀ = 0.60 nM was determined and found to induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 and HS578T cells. Extra experiments showed the compound to act as a mitocan and to induce inhibition of proliferation or growth arrest in MDA-MB-231 cells at lower doses followed by an induction of apoptosis at higher doses. Furthermore, differential responses to proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction may explain differential sensitivity of mammary cell lines to compound 28.

N-methylated diazabicyclo[3.2.2]nonane substituted triterpenoic acids are excellent, hyperbolic and selective inhibitors for butyrylcholinesterase

Triterpenoic acids (oleanolic, ursolic, betulinic, platanic and glycyrrhetinic acid) were acetylated and coupled with 1,3- or 1,4-diazabicyclo[3.2.2]nonanes to yield amides. Reaction of these amides with methyl iodide at the distal nitrogen of the bicyclic system gave the corresponding quaternary ammonium salts. These compounds were shown to act as excellent inhibitors of the enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) while being only weak inhibitors for acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Evaluation of the enzyme kinetics revealed these compounds to act as hyperbolic inhibitors for BChE while the results from molecular modeling gave an explanation for their selectivity between AChE and BChE.

Type and position of linkage govern the cytotoxicity of oleanolic acid rhodamine B hybrids

Oleanolic acid/rhodamine B hybrids exhibit different cytotoxicity depending on the way these two structural elements are linked. While a hybrid holding a piperazinyl spacer at C-28 proved to be cytotoxic in the nano-molar concentration range, hybrids with a direct linkage of the Rho B residue to C-3 of the triterpenoid skeleton are cytotoxic only in the low micro-molar concentration range without any selectivity. This once again underlines the importance of selecting the right spacer and the most appropriate position on the skeleton of the triterpene to achieve the most cytotoxic hybrids possible.

Conjugation of Natural Triterpenic Acids with Delocalized Lipophilic Cations: Selective Targeting Cancer Cell Mitochondria

Currently, a new line of research on mitochondria-targeted anticancer drugs is actively developing in the field of biomedicine and medicinal chemistry. The distinguishing features of this universal target for anticancer agents include presence of mitochondria in the overwhelming majority, if not all types of transformed cells, crucial importance of these cytoplasmic organelles in energy production, regulation of cell death pathways, as well as generation of reactive oxygen species and maintenance of calcium homeostasis. Hence, mitochondriotropic anticancer mitocan agents, acting through mitochondrial destabilization, have good prospects in cancer therapy. Available natural pentacyclic triterpenoids are considered promising scaffolds for development of new mitochondria-targeted anticancer agents. These secondary metabolites affect the mitochondria of tumor cells and initiate formation of reactive oxygen species. The present paper focuses on the latest research outcomes of synthesis and study of cytotoxic activity of conjugates of pentacyclic triterpenoids with some mitochondria-targeted cationic lipophilic molecules and highlights the advantages of applying them as novel mitocan agents compared to their prototype natural triterpenic acids.

Mitocanic Di- and Triterpenoid Rhodamine B Conjugates

The combination of the “correct” triterpenoid, the “correct” spacer and rhodamine B (RhoB) seems to be decisive for the ability of the conjugate to accumulate in mitochondria. So far, several triterpenoid rhodamine B conjugates have been prepared and screened for their cytotoxic activity. To obtain cytotoxic compounds with EC₅₀ values in a low nano-molar range combined with good tumor/non-tumor selectivity, the Rho B unit has to be attached via an amine spacer to the terpenoid skeleton. To avoid spirolactamization, secondary amines have to be used. First results indicate that a homopiperazinyl spacer is superior to a piperazinyl spacer. Hybrids derived from maslinic acid or tormentic acid are superior to those from oleanolic, ursolic, glycyrrhetinic or euscaphic acid. Thus, a tormentic acid-derived RhoB conjugate 32, holding a homopiperazinyl spacer can be regarded, at present, as the most promising candidate for further biological studies.

Cytotoxic triterpenoid-safirinium conjugates target the endoplasmic reticulum

Safirinium P and Q fluorescence labels were synthesized and conjugated with spacered triterpenoic acids to access hybrid structures. While the parent safirinium compounds were not cytotoxic at all, many triterpenoid safirinium P and Q conjugates showed moderate cytotoxicity. An exception, however, was safirinium P derived compound 30 holding low EC₅₀ = 5.4 μM (for A375 cells) to EC₅₀ = 7.5 μM (for FaDu cells) as well as EC₅₀ = 6.6 μM for non-malignant fibroblasts NIH 3T3. Fluorescence imaging showed that the safirinium core structures cannot enter the cells (not even after a prolonged incubation time of 24 h), while the conjugates (as exemplified for 30) are accumulating in the endoplasmic reticulum but not in the mitochondria. The development of safirinium-hybrids targeting the endoplasmic reticulum can be regarded as a promising strategy in the development of cytotoxic agents.