Design, synthesis of novel triptolide-glucose conjugates targeting glucose Transporter-1 and their selective antitumor effect

The protective effect of natural medicines in rheumatoid arthritis via inhibit angiogenesis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic immunological disease leading to the progressive bone and joint destruction. Angiogenesis, accompanied by synovial hyperplasia and inflammation underlies joint destruction. Delaying or even blocking synovial angiogenesis has emerged as an important target of RA treatment. Natural medicines has a long history of treating RA, and numerous reports have suggested that natural medicines have a strong inhibitory activity on synovial angiogenesis, thereby improving the progression of RA. Natural medicines could regulate the following signaling pathways: HIF/VEGF/ANG, PI3K/Akt pathway, MAPKs pathway, NF-κB pathway, PPARγ pathway, JAK2/STAT3 pathway, etc., thereby inhibiting angiogenesis. Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. (TwHF), sinomenine, and total glucoside of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. Are currently the most representative of all natural products worthy of development and utilization. In this paper, the main factors affecting angiogenesis were discussed and different types of natural medicines that inhibit angiogenesis were systematically summarized. Their specific anti-angiogenesis mechanisms are also reviewed which aiming to provide new perspective and options for the management of RA by targeting angiogenesis.

Tumor selective self-assembled nanomicelles of carbohydrate-epothilone B conjugate for targeted chemotherapy

Epothilone B (Epo B) is a potent antitumor natural product with sub-nanomolar anti-proliferation action against several human cancer cells. However, poor selectivity to tumor cells and unacceptable therapeutic windows of Epo B and its analogs are the major obstacles to their development into clinical drugs. Herein, we present self-assembled nanomicelles based on an amphiphilic carbohydrate-Epo B conjugate that is inactive until converted to active Epo B within the tumor. Four Epo B-Rhamnose conjugates linked via two linkers containing a disulfide bond that is sensitive to GSH were synthesized. Conjugate 34 can self-assemble into nanomicelles with a high concentration of Rha on the surface, allowing for better tumor targeting. After internalization by cancer cells, the disulfide bond can be cleaved in the presence of high levels of GSH to release active Epo B, thereby exhibiting significant anticancer efficiency and selectivity in vitro and in vivo.

Base-Promoted Glycosylation Allows Protecting Group-Free and Stereoselective O-Glycosylation of Carboxylic Acids

Here we report a simple and general method to achieve fully unprotected, stereoselective glycosylation of carboxylic acids, employing bench-stable allyl glycosyl sulfones as donors. Running the glycosylation reaction under basic conditions was crucial for the efficiencies and selectivities. Both the donor activation stage and the glycosidic bond forming stage of the process are compatible with free hydroxyl groups, thereby allowing for the use of fully unprotected glycosyl donors. This transformation is stereoconvergent, occurs under mild and metal-free conditions at ambient temperature with visible light (455 nm) irradiation, and displays remarkable scope with respect to both reaction partners. Many natural products and commercial drugs, including an acid derived from the complex anticancer agent taxol, were efficiently glycosylated. Experimental studies provide insights into the origin of the stereochemical outcome.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel SN38-glucose conjugate for colorectal cancer treatment

7-Ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN38), the bioactive metabolite of irinotecan (CPT-11), has been shown to be 100-1000 times more effective than CPT-11. However, the poor water solubility and bioavailability of SN38 constrained its clinical application. In this study, we synthesized a novel SN38-glucose conjugate (FSY04) to address this issue. Our in vitro studies indicated that FSY04 had a potent inhibitory ability against colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines of SW-480 and HCT-116 compared to the inhibitory capacity of CPT-11. Interestingly, FSY04 possessed lower cytotoxicity against normal cell lines of LO2 and 293T in contrast with CPT-11. Moreover, FSY04 is more active than CPT-11 in inducing apoptosis, inhibiting migration, and invasion. In vivo experiments suggested that half of the equivalent of FSY04 inhibited the growth of SW480 in the xenograft tumor model better than one equivalent of CPT-11. Our data demonstrated FSY04 to be a promising agent in CRC therapy.

A multi-target directed ligands strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: Dimethyl fumarate plus Tranilast modified Dithiocarbate as AChE inhibitor and Nrf2 activator

Alzheimer's disease (AD) possessed intricate pathogenesis. Currently, multi-targeted drugs were considered to have the potential to against AD by simultaneously triggering molecules in functionally complementary pathways. Hence, a series of molecules based on the pharmacophoric features of Dimethyl fumarate, Tranilast, and Dithiocarbate were designed and synthesized. These compounds showed significant AChE inhibitory activity in vitro. Among them, compound 4c₂ displayed the mighty inhibitory activity to hAChE (IC₅₀ = 0.053 μM) and held the ability to cross the BBB. Kinetic study and molecular docking pointed out that 4c₂ bound well into the active sites of hAChE, forming steady and sturdy interactions with key residues in hAChE. Additionally, 4c₂ as an Nrf2 activator could promote the nuclear translocation of Nrf2 protein and induce the expressions of Nrf2-dependent enzymes HO-1, NQO1, and GPX4. Moreover, 4c₂ rescued BV-2 cells from H₂O₂-induced injury and inhibited ROS accumulation. For the anti-neuroinflammatory potential of 4c₂, we observed that 4c₂ could lower the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (NO, IL-6 and TNF-α) and suppressed the expressions of iNOS and COX-2. In particular, 4c₂ was well tolerated in mice (2500 mg/kg, p.o.) and efficaciously recovered the memory impairment in a Scopolamine-induced mouse model. Overall, these results highlighted that 4c₂ was a promising multi-targeted agent for treating AD.