Synthesis and screening of bicyclic carbohydrate-based compounds: A novel type of antivirals

C-Glycopyranosyl Arenes and Hetarenes: Synthetic Methods and Bioactivity Focused on Antidiabetic Potential

This Review summarizes close to 500 primary publications and surveys published since 2000 about the syntheses and diverse bioactivities of C-glycopyranosyl (het)arenes. A classification of the preparative routes to these synthetic targets according to methodologies and compound categories is provided. Several of these compounds, regardless of their natural or synthetic origin, display antidiabetic properties due to enzyme inhibition (glycogen phosphorylase, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B) or by inhibiting renal sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2). The latter class of synthetic inhibitors, very recently approved as antihyperglycemic drugs, opens new perspectives in the pharmacological treatment of type 2 diabetes. Various compounds with the C-glycopyranosyl (het)arene motif were subjected to biological studies displaying among others antioxidant, antiviral, antibiotic, antiadhesive, cytotoxic, and glycoenzyme inhibitory effects.

Cytotoxic effects of C-glycosides in HOS and HeLa cell lines

Fifty-two C-glycosides were synthesized and their in-vitro antiproliferative activity screened against human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) and osteosarcoma (HOS) cell lines. Nine of them had growth inhibitions (GI(50) values) below 10 microM, the C-glucopyranoside 38 being the most active against HeLa (5.4 microM) and the dichlorocyclopropyl derivative 42 against HOS (1.6 microM). Some preliminary structure-activity relationships were established.

Carbohydrates as scaffolds in drug discovery

Drug discovery has long suffered from the difficulty of having to place pharmacophoric groups in just the right spatial arrangement to elicit the desired biological response. Although some molecule classes have been discovered that seem to be privileged structures for at least some drug-receptor interactions, there remains the challenge to design and synthesize molecules with high specific affinity to pharmacologically important targets. With their high density of stereochemical information and their relative rigidity, carbohydrates provide excellent platforms upon which to display a number of substituents in a sterically defined way, hence offering the opportunity to harness their unique features for the drug-discovery process. This review highlights the progress that has been made in the development of carbohydrate scaffolds for drug discovery.

Antiproliferation and apoptosis induced by C-glycosides in human leukemia cancer cells

A large series of alkyl C-glycosides was synthesized from D-glucal or D-galactal. These compounds were screened against the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL60), showing significant activity and apoptosis. Up to 13 C-glucopyranosides, but no C-galacto- or C-mannopyranosides, exhibited inhibitory concentrations (IC(50) values) below 20 microM, five of them in the range 4-8 microM. Preliminary structure-activity relationships were established.