Acidic rearrangement of benzyl group in flavone benzyl ethers and its regioselectivity

Quantum chemistry calculation-aided discovery of potent small-molecule mimics of glutathione peroxidases for the treatment of cisplatin-induced hearing loss

Hearing loss (HL) is a health burden that seriously affects the quality of life of cancer patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy, and few FDA-approved treatment specifically targets this condition. The main mechanisms that contribute to cisplatin-induced hearing loss are oxidative stress and subsequent cell death, including ferroptosis revealed by us as a new mechanism recently. In this study, we employed the frontier molecular orbital (FMO) theory approach as a convenient prediction method for the glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like activity of isoselenazolones and discovered new isoselenazolones with great GPx-like activity. Notably, compound 19 exhibited significant protective effects against cisplatin-induced hair cell (HC) damage in vitro and in vivo and effectively reverses cisplatin-induced hearing loss through oral administration. Further investigations revealed that this compound effectively alleviated hair cell oxidative stress, apoptosis and ferroptosis. This research highlights the potential of GPx mimics as a therapeutic strategy against cisplatin-induced hearing loss. The application of quantum chemistry (QC) calculations in the study of GPx mimics sheds light on the development of new, innovative treatments for hearing loss.

Efficient glycosylation of natural Danshensu and its enantiomer by sugar and 2-deoxy sugar donors

An efficient methodology of the glycosylation process of a secondary plant metabolite (R-Danshensu) and its enantiomer by sugar and 2-deoxy sugar donors was developed. The overall synthesis of the new sugar derivatives involved two steps, starting from the previously synthesized protected R and S Danshensu (1 and 2). The deoxy sugar derivatives of R and S Danshensu were obtained from available tri-O-acetyl-2-deoxy-D-glucal and di-O-acetyl-2-deoxy-D-ramnal. The direct glycosylation of 1 and 2 using glycal activation by an acid catalyst in all cases led to the α-anomers of deoxy sugar derivatives with good yields. As a result, a novel group of sugar and deoxy sugar conjugates with optically pure polyphenolic acids was successfully synthesized and their cytotoxic profile against two cancer cell lines was tested. An advantageous ADME profile and antiproliferative data classified this new group of compounds as a promising scaffold for further modification of more potent and selective anticancer agents.