Synthesis of substituted benzimidazolyl curcumin mimics and their anticancer activity

Discovery of Novel Mono-Carbonyl Curcumin Derivatives as Potential Anti-Hepatoma Agents

Curcumin possesses a wide spectrum of liver cancer inhibition effects, yet it has chemical instability and poor metabolic properties as a drug candidate. To alleviate these problems, a series of new mono-carbonyl curcumin derivatives G1-G7 were designed, synthesized, and evaluated by in vitro and in vivo studies. Compound G2 was found to be the most potent derivative (IC50 = 15.39 μM) compared to curcumin (IC50 = 40.56 μM) by anti-proliferation assay. Subsequently, molecular docking, wound healing, transwell, JC-1 staining, and Western blotting experiments were performed, and it was found that compound G2 could suppress cell migration and induce cell apoptosis by inhibiting the phosphorylation of AKT and affecting the expression of apoptosis-related proteins. Moreover, the HepG2 cell xenograft model and H&E staining results confirmed that compound G2 was more effective than curcumin in inhibiting tumor growth. Hence, G2 is a promising leading compound with the potential to be developed as a chemotherapy agent for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Synthesis and biological testing of 3,5-bis(arylidene)-4-piperidone conjugates with 2,5-dihydro-5H-1,2-oxaphospholenes

Using the methodology of "click" chemistry, a series of conjugates of 3,5-bis(benzylidene)-1-(prop-2-yn)piperidin-4-ones with 4-alkyl-3-azidomethyl-2-ethoxy-2,5-dihydro-5H-1,2 oxaphosphol 2-oxides was synthesized. All newly obtained compounds 8-18 were characterized by ¹H, ¹³C, ³¹P, ¹⁹F NMR and IR spectroscopy. The potential antitumor activity of the synthesized conjugates8-18was studied in terms of their ability to influence the viability of variouscancercell lines, including A549, SH-SY5Y, Hep-2, and HeLa. Compound 15, which contains two fluorine atoms in the benzene ring, was shown to be the most promising. The mechanism of the cytotoxic action of this conjugate is supposed to be associated with the ability to inhibit the glycolytic profile of transformed cells.

Design and Synthesis of Benzimidazole-Chalcone Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents

Numerous reports have shown that conjugated benzimidazole derivatives possess various kinds of biological activities, including anticancer properties. In this report, we designed and synthesized 24 new molecules comprising a benzimidazole ring, arene, and alkyl chain-bearing cyclic moieties. The results showed that the N-substituted benzimidazole derivatives bearing an alkyl chain and a nitrogen-containing 5- or 6-membered ring enhanced the cytotoxic effects on human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) and human ovarian carcinoma (OVCAR-3) cell lines. Among the 24 synthesized compounds, (2E)-1-(1-(3-morpholinopropyl)-1H-benzimidazol-2 -yl)-3-phenyl-2-propen-1-one) (23a) reduced the proliferation of MCF-7 and OVCAR-3 cell lines demonstrating superior outcomes to those of cisplatin.

Reactions of 2-carbonyl- and 2-hydroxy(or methoxy)alkyl-substituted benzimidazoles with arenes in the superacid CF3SO3H. NMR and DFT studies of dicationic electrophilic species

Reactions of 2-carbonyl- and 2-hydroxy(or methoxy)alkylbenzimidazoles with arenes in the Brønsted superacid TfOH resulted in the formation of the corresponding Friedel-Crafts reaction products, 2-diarylmethyl and 2-arylmethyl-substituted benzimidazoles, in yields up to 90%. The reaction intermediates, protonated species derived from starting benzimidazoles in TfOH, were thoroughly studied by means of NMR and DFT calculations and plausible reaction mechanisms are discussed.

Treatment with low-dose sorafenib in combination with a novel benzimidazole derivative bearing a pyrolidine side chain provides synergistic anti-proliferative effects against human liver cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies and deadliest cancers in the world.

Functionalized Benzimidazole Scaffolds: Privileged Heterocycle for Drug Design in Therapeutic Medicine

Benzimidazole derivatives are crucial structural scaffolds found in diverse libraries of biologically active compounds which are therapeutically useful agents in drug discovery and medicinal research. They are structural isosteres of naturally occurring nucleotides, which allows them to interact with the biopolymers of living systems. Hence, there is a need to couple the latest information with the earlier documentations to understand the current status of the benzimidazole nucleus in medicinal chemistry research. This present work unveils the benzimidazole core as a multifunctional nucleus that serves as a resourceful tool of information for synthetic modifications of old existing candidates in order to tackle drug resistance bottlenecks in therapeutic medicine. This manuscript deals with the recent advances in the synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives, the widespread biological activities as well as pharmacokinetic reports. These present them as a toolbox for fighting infectious diseases and also make them excellent candidates for future drug design.

An appraisal on recent medicinal perspective of curcumin degradant: Dehydrozingerone (DZG)

Natural products serve as a key source for the design, discovery and development of potentially novel drug like candidates for life threatening diseases. Curcumin is one such medicinally important molecule reported for an array of biological activities. However, it has major drawbacks of very poor bioavailability and solubility. Alternatively, structural analogs and degradants of curcumin have been investigated, which have emerged as promising scaffolds with diverse biological activities. Dehydrozingerone (DZG) also known as feruloylmethane, is one such recognized degradant which is a half structural analog of curcumin. It exists as a natural phenolic compound obtained from rhizomes of Zingiber officinale, which has attracted much attention of medicinal chemists. DZG is known to have a broad range of biological activities like antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, anti-malarial, antifungal, anti-platelet and many others. DZG has also been studied in resolving issues pertaining to curcumin since it shares many structural similarities with curcumin. Considering this, in the present review we have put forward an effort to revise and systematically discuss the research involving DZG with its biological diversity. From literature, it is quite clear that DZG and its structural analogs have exhibited significant potential in facilitating design and development of novel medicinally active lead compounds with improved metabolic and pharmacokinetic profiles.

Synthesis of alkylsulfonyl and substituted benzenesulfonyl curcumin mimics as dual antagonist of L-type Ca(2+) channel and endothelin A/B2 receptor

We synthesized a library of curcumin mimics with diverse alkylsulfonyl and substituted benzenesulfonyl modifications through a simple addition reaction of important intermediate, 1-(3-Amino-phenyl)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)-propenone (10), with various sulfonyl chloride reactants and then tested their vasodilatation effect on depolarization (50 mM K(+))- and endothelin-1 (ET-1)-induced basilar artery contraction. Generally, curcumin mimics with aromatic sulfonyl groups showed stronger vasodilation effect than alkyl sulfonylated curcumin mimics. Among the tested compounds, six curcumin mimics (11g, 11h, 11i, 11j, 11l, and 11s) in a depolarization-induced vasoconstriction and seven compounds (11g, 11h, 11i, 11j, 11l, 11p, and 11s) in an ET-1-induced vasoconstriction showed strong vasodilation effect. Based on their biological properties, synthetic curcumin mimics can act as dual antagonist scaffold of L-type Ca(2+) channel and endothelin A/B2 receptor in vascular smooth muscle cells. In particular, compounds 11g and 11s are promising novel drug candidates to treat hypertension related to the overexpression of L-type Ca(2+) channels and ET peptides/receptors-mediated cardiovascular diseases.

Structure-Activity Relationship and Pharmacokinetic Studies of 1,5-Diheteroarylpenta-1,4-dien-3-ones: A Class of Promising Curcumin-Based Anticancer Agents

Forty-three 1,5-diheteroaryl-1,4-pentadien-3-ones were designed as potential curcumin mimics, structurally featuring a central five-carbon dienone linker and two identical nitrogen-containing aromatic rings. They were synthesized using a Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction as the critical step and evaluated for their cytotoxicity and antiproliferative activities toward both androgen-insensitive and androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cell lines and an aggressive cervical cancer cell line. Most of the synthesized compounds showed distinctly better in vitro potency than curcumin in the four cancer cell lines. The structure-activity data acquired from the study validated (1E,4E)-1,5-dihereroaryl-1,4-pentadien-3-ones as an excellent scaffold for in-depth development for clinical treatment of prostate and cervical cancers. 1-Alkyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl, ortho pyridyl, 1-alkyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-2-yl, 4-bromo-1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl, thiazol-2-yl, and 2-methyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)thiazol-5-yl were identified as optimal heteroaromatic rings for the promising in vitro potency. (1E,4E)-1,5-Bis(2-methyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)thiazol-5-yl)penta-1,4-dien-3-one, featuring thiazole rings and trifluoromethyl groups, was established as the optimal lead compound because of its good in vitro potency and attractive in vivo pharmacokinetic profiles.

Synthesis of imidazothiadiazole–benzimidazole conjugates as mitochondrial apoptosis inducers

A series of imidazothiadiazole–benzimidazole conjugates (3a–z) were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against a set of four selected human cancer cell lines. Compounds3band3yexhibited significant antiproliferative activity against the ME-180 (cervical) cell line.

Synthesis of novel quinoline-2-one based chalcones of potential anti-tumor activity

Novel quinoline-2-one based chalcones were synthesized from a Claisen-Schmidt condensation by using the couple KOH/1,4-dioxane as reaction medium. A relatively stable aldol was isolated and identified as the intermediate species in the formation of the target chalcones. Nine of the obtained compounds were in vitro screened by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) for their ability to inhibit 60 different human tumor cell lines. Products 16c, 16d, 16h and 27 exhibited the highest activity, being compound 27 the most active, displaying remarkable activity against 50 human tumor cell lines, thirteen of them with GI(50) values ≤1.0 μM, being the HCT-116 (Colon, GI(50) = 0.131 μM) and LOX IMVI (Melanoma, GI(50) = 0.134 μM) the most sensitive strains. Compound 27 was referred to in vivo acute toxicity and hollow fiber assay by the Biological Evaluation Committee of the NCI. The acute toxicity study indicated that compound 27 was well tolerated intraperitoneally (150 mg/kg/dose) by athymic nude mice. This compound may possibly be used as lead compound for developing new anticancer agents.