Click chemistry-based synthesis and anticancer activity evaluation of novel C-14 1,2,3-triazole dehydroabietic acid hybrids

Identification of octyl gallate, a novel apoptosis-inducing compound for colon cancer therapy, from Sanguisorba officinalis L. by cell membrane chromatography and UHPLC-(Q)TOF-MS/MS

Colon cancer is a common gastrointestinal malignancy that ranks third in incidence among gastrointestinal cancers. Therefore, screening bioactive compounds for treatment of colon cancer is urgently needed. Sanguisorba officinalis L. (SO) has been demonstrated that the extractions or monomers possess potential anti-tumor effect. In this study, we firstly used cell membrane chromatography (CMC) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with (quadrupole) time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-(Q) TOF-MS/MS) to identify a novel active ingredient, octyl gallate (OG), from SO methanol extract (SO-MtOH). HCT116 and SW620 cells lines were used for in vitro research, which showed OG presents great anti-colon cancer effect by inhibiting proliferation, inducing apoptosis, and repressing the migration and invasion. Furthermore, SW620 bearing athymic nude mice was used to investigate the potential antitumor activity in vivo, which exhibited OG treatment remarkably lessened the tumor volume. Mechanism studies showed that OG downregulated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling axis and induced apoptosis by upregulating the Bax/Bcl-2 protein and the cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9. In conclusion, our research innovatively applied the method of CMC to intriguingly unearth the potential anti-colon cancer ingredient OG and demonstrated its the great antineoplastic activity, which provide a new insight for researchers efficiently developing the novel apoptosis-inducing compound for colon cancer therapy.

Design, synthesis, and antiproliferative evaluation of novel dehydroabietic acid-1,2,3-triazole-oxazolidinone hybrids

A series of novel dehydroabietic acid derivatives containing both 1,2,3-triazole and oxazolidinone 4a-4t have been synthesized and their antiproliferative activity in vitro against HeLa, HepG2, MGC-803 and T-24 cell lines evaluated. Most of them displayed cell proliferation inhibition on four tested human malignant tumour cell lines to some degree. Among them, compound 4p exhibited promising cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging from 3.18 to 25.31 μM and weak cytotoxicity toward normal cells. The mechanism of action of 4p was then studied using flow cytometry, Hoechst 33258 staining, ROS generation assay, and JC-1 mitochondrial membrane potential staining, which illustrated that compound 4p induced apoptosis, arrested mitotic process at the G1 phase of the cell cycle, reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential, and increased intracellular ROS levels. In summary, the introduction of an oxazolidinone group via a "1,2,3-triazole" linker significantly improved the antitumor activity of dehydroabietic acid, and deserves to be further investigated.

Click chemistry-aided drug discovery: A retrospective and prospective outlook

Click chemistry has emerged as a valuable tool for rapid compound synthesis, presenting notable advantages and convenience in the exploration of potential drug candidates. In particular, in situ click chemistry capitalizes on enzymes as reaction templates, leveraging their favorable conformation to selectively link individual building blocks and generate novel hits. This review comprehensively outlines and introduces the extensive use of click chemistry in compound library construction, and hit and lead discovery, supported by specific research examples. Additionally, it discusses the limitations and precautions associated with the application of click chemistry in drug discovery. Our intention for this review is to contribute to the development of a modular synthetic approach for the rapid identification of drug candidates.

Review of triazole scaffolds for treatment and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Triazole scaffolds, a series of 5-membered heterocycles, are well known for their high efficacy, low toxicity, and superior pharmacokinetics. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the first neurodegenerative disorder with complex pathological mechanisms. Triazole, as an aromatic group with three nitrogen atoms, forms polar and non-polar interactions with diverse key residues in the receptor-ligand binding procedure, and has been widely used in the molecular design in the development of anti-AD agents. Moreover, considering the simple synthesis approaches, triazole scaffolds are commonly used to link two pharmacodynamic groups in one chemical molecule, forming multi-target directed ligands (MTDLs). Furthermore, the click reaction between azide- and cyano-modified enzyme and ligand provides feasibility for the new modulator discovery, compound tissue distribution evaluation, enzyme localization, and pharmacological mechanism study, promoting the diagnosis of AD course.

Ferroptosis in non-alcoholic liver disease: Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic implications

Ferroptosis refers to a novel modality of regulated cell death characterized by excessive iron accumulation and overwhelming lipid peroxidation, which takes an important part in multiple pathological processes associated with cell death. Considering the crucial roles of the liver in iron and lipid metabolism and its predisposition to oxidative insults, more and more studies have been conducted to explore the relationship between ferroptosis and various liver disorders, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). With increased morbidity and high mortality rates, NAFLD has currently emerged as a global public health issue. However, the etiology of NAFLD is not fully understood. In recent years, an accumulating body of evidence have suggested that ferroptosis plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD, but the precise mechanisms underlying how ferroptosis affects NAFLD still remain obscure. Here, we summarize the molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis and its complicated regulation systems, delineate the different effects that ferroptosis exerts in different stages of NAFLD, and discuss some potential effective therapies targeting ferroptosis for NAFLD treatment, which putatively points out a novel direction for NAFLD treatment.

Recent Advances on Biological Activities and Structural Modifications of Dehydroabietic Acid

Dehydroabietic acid is a tricyclic diterpenoid resin acid isolated from rosin. Dehydroabietic acid and its derivatives showed lots of medical and agricultural bioactivities, such as anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral, antiulcer, insecticidal, and herbicidal activities. This review summarized the research advances on the structural modification and total synthesis of dehydroabietic acid and its derivatives from 2015 to 2021, and analyzed the biotransformation and structure-activity relationships in order to provide a reference for the development and utilization of dehydroabietic acid and its derivatives as drugs and pesticides.

Application of triazoles in the structural modification of natural products

Nature products have been extensively used in the discovery and development of new drugs, as the most important source of drugs. The triazole ring is one of main pharmacophore of the nitrogen-containing heterocycles. Thus, a new class of triazole-containing natural product conjugates has been synthesised. These compounds reportedly exert anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-Alzheimer, and enzyme inhibitory effects. This review summarises the research progress of triazole-containing natural product derivatives involved in medicinal chemistry in the past six years. This review provides insights and perspectives that will help scientists in the fields of organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, phytochemistry, and pharmacology.

A Pd-catalyzed one-pot cascade consisting of C-C/C-O/N-N bond formation to access benzoxazine fused 1,2,3-triazoles

A Pd-catalyzed one-pot cascade consisting of C-C/C-O/N-N bond formation to access clinically important fused 1,2,3-triazoles using N-aryl-α-(tosylhydrazone)acetamides with isocyanide has been developed. Besides, various substitutions on the N-aryl part of acetamides along with different isocyanides show good compatibility in this protocol. Next, two plausible mechanistic routes were proposed; however, one of the routes was more favourable which involved the formation of a benzoxazine ring first followed by the realization of a triazole ring. Additionally, the more favourable mechanistic route was investigated using DFT studies which suggests that the formations of a Pd(II)-isocyanide complex and α-diazoimino intermediates were key steps in the catalytic cycle.

Click Chemistry in Natural Product Modification

Click chemistry is perhaps the most powerful synthetic toolbox that can efficiently access the molecular diversity and unique functions of complex natural products up to now. It enables the ready synthesis of diverse sets of natural product derivatives either for the optimization of their drawbacks or for the construction of natural product-like drug screening libraries. This paper showcases the state-of-the-art development of click chemistry in natural product modification and summarizes the pharmacological activities of the active derivatives as well as the mechanism of action. The aim of this paper is to gain a deep understanding of the fruitful achievements and to provide perspectives, trends, and directions regarding further research in natural product medicinal chemistry.

Role of Ferroptosis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Its Implications for Therapeutic Strategies

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the chronic liver disease with the highest incidence throughout the world, but its pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. Ferroptosis is a novel form of programmed cell death caused by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. Abnormal iron metabolism, lipid peroxidation, and accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acid phospholipids (PUFA-PLs) can all trigger ferroptosis. Emerging evidence indicates that ferroptosis plays a critical role in the pathological progression of NAFLD. Because the liver is the main organ for iron storage and lipid metabolism, ferroptosis is an ideal target for liver diseases. Inhibiting ferroptosis may become a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of NAFLD. In this article, we describe the role of ferroptosis in the progression of NAFLD and its related mechanisms. This review will highlight further directions for the treatment of NAFLD and the selection of corresponding drugs that target ferroptosis.

Dehydroabietic acid improves nonalcoholic fatty liver disease through activating the Keap1/Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway to reduce ferroptosis

The accumulation of iron-dependent lipid peroxides is one of the important causes of NAFLD. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of dehydroabietic acid (DA) on ferroptosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) mice and its possible mechanisms. DA improved NAFLD and reduced triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and lipid peroxidation level and inhibited ferroptosis in the liver of HFD-induced mice. DA binds with Keap1 to form 3 stable hydrogen bonds at VAL512 and LEU557 and increased nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-antioxidant response elemen (ARE) luciferase activity. DA promoted the expression downstream of Nrf2 such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), glutathione (GSH) and its peroxidase 4 (GPX4), so as to eliminate the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduce lipid peroxides malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver. DA inhibited ferroptosis and increased the expression of key genes such as ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 (FSP1) in vitro and vivo. In all, DA may bind with Keap1, activate Nrf2-ARE, induce its target gene expression, inhibit ROS accumulation and lipid peroxidation, and reduce HFD-induced NAFLD.

Recent accomplishments on the synthetic/biological facets of pharmacologically active 1H-1,2,3-triazoles

The continuous demand of medicinally important scaffolds has prompted the synthetic chemists to identify simple and efficient routes for their synthesis. 1H-1,2,3-triazole, obtained by highly versatile, efficacious and selective "Click Reaction" has become a synthetic/medicinal chemist's favorite not only because of its ability to mimic different functional groups but also due to enhancement in the targeted biological activities. Triazole ring has also been shown to play a critical role in biomolecular mimetics, fragment-based drug design, and bioorthogonal methodologies. In addition, the availability of triazole containing drugs such as fluconazole, furacyclin, etizolam, voriconazole, triozolam etc. in market has underscored the potential of this biologically enriched core in expediting development of new scaffolds. The present review, therefore, is an attempt to highlight the recent synthetic/biological advancements in triazole derivatives that could facilitate the in-depth understanding of its role in the drug discovery process.

Structural cytotoxicity relationship of 2-phenoxy(thiomethyl)pyridotriazolopyrimidines: Quantum chemical calculations and statistical analysis

Previously, a series of pyridotriazolopyrimidines (1–6) were synthesized and fully described. The target compounds (1–6) were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against MCF-7, HepG2, WRL 68, and A549 (breast adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, embryonic liver, and pulmonary adenocarcinoma, respectively) cell lines using MTT assay. The tested compounds demonstrated cytotoxicity, but no significant activity. To elucidate the structure–cytotoxicity relation of the prepared pyridotriazolopyrimidines, several chemical descriptors were determined, including electronic, steric, and hydrophobic descriptors. These chemical descriptors were calculated in the polarizable continuum model (water as solvent) using density functional theory calculations at B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p). By employing simple linear regression (SLR) and multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses, the impact of the selected descriptors was assessed statistically. The obtained results clearly reveal that the cytotoxicity of pyridotriazolopyrimidines depends on their (i) basic skeleton and (ii) the type of the tested cell. Interestingly, SLR and MLR analyses show that the impact of the selected descriptors is strongly related to the tested cells and basic skeleton of the tested compounds. For instance, the cytotoxicity of subclasses 2a and 2c–2f against A459 shows strong correlation with ionization potential, hardness (η), and hydrophobicity (log P) with a correlation coefficient of 99.86% and a standard deviation of 0.53.

Synthesis and anticancer evaluation of novel 1H-benzo[d]imidazole derivatives of dehydroabietic acid as PI3Kα inhibitors

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) is one of the most attractive therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. In this study, a series of new 2-arylthio- and 2-arylamino-1H-benzo[d]imidazole derivatives of dehydroabietic acid were designed, synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR and MS spectra analyses. In the in vitro anticancer assay, some title compounds showed significant inhibitory activities against four cancer cell lines (HCT-116, MCF-7, HeLa and HepG2). Among them, compound 9g exhibited the most potent activity with IC₅₀ values of 0.18 ± 0.03, 0.43 ± 0.05, 0.71 ± 0.08 and 0.63 ± 0.09 μM against four cancer cell lines, and considerably lower cytotoxicity to human gastric mucosal cell line Ges-1 (IC₅₀: 21.95 ± 0.73 μM). Besides, compound 9g displayed a certain selective activity to PI3Kα (IC₅₀ = 0.012 ± 0.002 μM) over PI3Kβ, γ and δ, and meanwhile, it can remarkably decrease the expression level of p-Akt (Ser473). In addition, compound 9g could increase intracellular reactive oxygen species level, decrease mitochondrial membrane potential, upregulate Bax and cleaved caspase-3/9 levels, downregulate Bcl-2 level and thus induce the apoptosis of HCT-116 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggested that compound 9g could be considered as a promising PI3Kα inhibitor.

CuAAC-ensembled 1,2,3-triazole-linked isosteres as pharmacophores in drug discovery: review

The review lays emphasis on the significance of 1,2,3-triazoles synthesized via CuAAC reaction having potential to act as anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-tuberculosis, anti-diabetic, and anti-Alzheimer drugs. The importance of click chemistry is due to its 'quicker' methodology that has the capability to create complex and efficient drugs with high yield and purity from simple and cheap starting materials. The activity of different triazolyl compounds was compiled considering MIC, IC50, and EC50 values against different species of microbes. In addition to this, the anti-oxidant property of triazolyl compounds have also been reviewed and discussed.

Structural and antitumoral characteristic dataset of the chitosan based magnetic nanocomposite

The evaluation on the characteristic dataset and figures presented here, are related to our latest research data entitled “Fabrication of chitosan based magnetic nanocomposite by click reaction strategy; evaluation of nanometric and Cytotoxic characteristics” [1]. FTIR, Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) measurements, Xray diffraction (XRD) information and the resulted figures for structural confirmation of the prepared chitosan based nanocomposite are presented in this article. The morphological changes of the Fibroblast, Saos, MCF7 and Hela cell lines after treatment with the mention compound were displayed. The additional adsorption data for the synthesized nanobiocomposite were also demonstrated with graphs.

Exploring the Chemistry and Therapeutic Potential of Triazoles: A Comprehensive Literature Review

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Triazole is a valuable platform in medicinal chemistry, possessing assorted pharmacological properties, which could play a major role in the common mechanisms associated with various disorders like cancer, infections, inflammation, convulsions, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration. Structural modification of this scaffold could be helpful in the generation of new therapeutically useful agents. Although research endeavors are moving towards the growth of synthetic analogs of triazole, there is still a lot of scope to achieve drug discovery break-through in this area. Upcoming therapeutic prospective of this moiety has captured the attention of medicinal chemists to synthesize novel triazole derivatives. The authors amalgamated the chemistry, synthetic strategies and detailed pharmacological activities of the triazole nucleus in the present review. Information regarding the marketed triazole derivatives has also been incorporated. The objective of the review is to provide insights to designing and synthesizing novel triazole derivatives with advanced and unexplored pharmacological implications.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 4-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)benzoic acid hybrids as anticancer agents

A series of 4-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)benzoic acid hybrids (1-17) was successfully synthesized and their structures were established by NMR and MS analysis. In vitro cytotoxic evaluation indicated that some of the hybrids exhibited potent inhibitory activities against MCF-7 and HCT-116 cancer cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 15.6 to 23.9 µM, compared with reference drug doxorubicin (19.7 and 22.6 µM, respectively). Notably, the most potent compounds, 2, 5, 14, and 15, not only exhibited an obvious improvement in IC50 values, but demonstrated very weak cytotoxic effects toward normal cells (RPE-1) compared with doxorubicin. A further investigation showed that compounds 2 and 14 clearly inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. In addition, these hybrids showed acceptable correlation with bioassay results in regression plots generated by 2D QSAR models. Our results indicated that 1,2,4-triazole benzoic acid hybrids could be used as a structural optimization platform for the design and development of more selective and potent anticancer molecules.

Synthesis of Oridonin Derivatives via Mizoroki-Heck Reaction and Click Chemistry for Cytotoxic Activity

BACKGROUND

Natural products (NPs) are evolutionarily chosen "privileged structures" that have a profound impact upon the anticancer drug discovery and development progress. However, the search for new drugs based on structure modification of NPs has often been hindered due to the tedious and complicated synthetic pathways. Fortunately, Mizoroki-Heck reaction and copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) could provide perfect strategies for selective modification on NPs even in the presence of liable functionalities.

OBJECTIVE

Here, we used oridonin, an ent-kaurane diterpenoid that showed a wide range of biological activities, as a parent molecule for the generation of analogues with anticancer activity.

METHODS

Derivatives of oridonin were generated based on the structure-activity relationship study of oridonin and synthesized via Mizoroki-Heck reaction and CuAAC. The cytotoxicity of new oridonin derivatives were evaluated on both cancer cells and normal cells. Furthermore, the apoptotic effect and cell cycle arrest effect of the selected potent analogue were evaluated by flow cytometry and western blotting analysis.

RESULTS

Two series of novel C-14 and C-17 modified derivatives of oridonin were obtained via Heck reaction and copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC), respectively. In vitro antiproliferative activities showed that the introduction of C-14 (2-triazole)acetoxyl- moiety could retain or enhance cytotoxicity, whereas the introduction of C-17 phenyl ring might exert negative effect. Further studies demonstrated that derivative 23 exhibited broad-spectrum antiproliferative activity, effectively overcame drug-resistance and showed weak cytotoxicity on non-cancer cells. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicated that 23 might cause G2/M phase arrest and induce apoptosis in PC-3 cells.

CONCLUSION

Mizoroki-Heck reaction and CuAAC are perfect strategies for structure modification of complex natural products. The introduction of C-14 (2-triazole)acetoxyl- moiety could retain or enhance the cytotoxicity of oridonin, the introduction of C-17 phenyl group might exert negative effect on its cytotoxicity.

Design, Synthesis and In vitro Cytotoxicity of New 1,2,3-triazol- and Nitrostyrene Hybrids as Potent Anticancer Agents

Background:

A new series of 1,2,3-triazol-nitrostyrene derivatives was designed, synthesized, and evaluated for cytotoxic activity against Hep-2 and L929 cell lines. </P><P> Methods: The synthetic procedure started from the functionalization of 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde with propargyl bromide and a subsequent click reaction to give 1,2,3-triazole derivatives. Then, the reaction of the mentioned derivatives with nitromethane led to the formation of the title compounds in excellent yields.

Results:

Most of the compounds exhibited better cytotoxic activity with respect to the standard drug 5-fluorouracil. Among them, (E)-1-(3,4-dichlorobenzyl)-4-((4-(2-nitrovinyl)phenoxy)methyl)-1H- 1,2,3-triazole 6i (IC50 = 4.66 &#177; 1.3 &#181;M) against the Hep-2 cell line and (E)-1-(2,3-dichlorobenzoyl)- 4-((4-(2-nitrovinyl)phenoxy)methyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole 6g (IC50 = 5.18 &#177; 0.8 &#181;M) against the L929 cell line exhibited the best cytotoxic effects.

Conclusion:

Moreover, the acridine orange/ethidium bromide double staining technique showed that the most potent compounds 6i and 6g could induce apoptosis in studied cancer cell lines.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Dehydroabietic Acid-Oxazolidinone Hybrids for Antitumor Properties

Novel representatives of the important group of biologically-active, dehydroabietic acid-bearing oxazolidinone moiety were synthesized to explore more efficacious and less toxic antitumor agents. Structures of all the newly target molecules were confirmed by IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, and HR-MS. The inhibitory activities of these compounds against different human cancer cell lines (MGC-803, CNE-2, SK-OV-3, NCI-H460) and human normal liver cell line LO2 were evaluated and compared with the commercial anticancer drug cisplatin, using standard MTT (methyl thiazolytetrazolium) assay in vitro. The pharmacological screening results revealed that most of the hybrids showed significantly improved antiproliferative activities over dehydroabietic acid and that some displayed better inhibitory activities compared to cisplatin. In particular, compound 4j exhibited promising cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 3.82 to 17.76 µM against all the test cell lines and displayed very weak cytotoxicity (IC₅₀ > 100 µM) on normal cells, showing good selectivity between normal and malignant cells. Furthermore, the action mechanism of the representative compound 4j was preliminarily investigated by Annexin-V/PI dual staining, Hoechst 33258 staining, which indicated that the compound can induce cell apoptosis in MGC-803 cells in a dose-dependent manner and arrest the cell cycle in G1 phase. Therefore, 4j may be further exploited as a novel pharmacophore model for the development of anticancer agents.

The Current Status of the Pharmaceutical Potential of Juniperus L. Metabolites

Background: Plants and their derived natural compounds possess various biological and therapeutic properties, which turns them into an increasing topic of interest and research. Juniperus genus is diverse in species, with several traditional medicines reported, and rich in natural compounds with potential for development of new drugs. Methods: The research for this review were based in the Scopus and Web of Science databases using terms combining Juniperus, secondary metabolites names, and biological activities. This is not an exhaustive review of Juniperus compounds with biological activities, but rather a critical selection taking into account the following criteria: (i) studies involving the most recent methodologies for quantitative evaluation of biological activities; and (ii) the compounds with the highest number of studies published in the last four years. Results: From Juniperus species, several diterpenes, flavonoids, and one lignan were emphasized taking into account their level of activity against several targets. Antitumor activity is by far the most studied, being followed by antibacterial and antiviral activities. Deoxypodophyllotoxin and one dehydroabietic acid derivative appears to be the most promising lead compounds. Conclusions: This review demonstrates the Juniperus species value as a source of secondary metabolites with relevant pharmaceutical potential.