Vosaroxin in acute myeloid leukaemia

Copper Complexes as Anticancer Agents Targeting Topoisomerases I and II

Organometallics, such as copper compounds, are cancer chemotherapeutics used alone or in combination with other drugs. One small group of copper complexes exerts an effective inhibitory action on topoisomerases, which participate in the regulation of DNA topology. Copper complexes inhibitors of topoisomerases 1 and 2 work by different molecular mechanisms, analyzed herein. They allow genesis of DNA breaks after the formation of a ternary complex, or act in a catalytic mode, often display DNA intercalative properties and ROS production, and sometimes display dual effects. These amplified actions have repercussions on the cell cycle checkpoints and death effectors. Copper complexes of topoisomerase inhibitors are analyzed in a broader synthetic view and in the context of cancer cell mutations. Finally, new emerging treatment aspects are depicted to encourage the expansion of this family of highly active anticancer drugs and to expend their use in clinical trials and future cancer therapy.

Recent advances in the synthetic and medicinal perspective of quinolones: A review

In the modern scenario, the quinolone scaffold has emerged as a very potent motif considering its clinical significance. Quinolones possess wide range of pharmacological activities such as anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, carbonic anhydrase inhibitory and diuretic activity etc. The versatile synthetic approaches have been successfully applied and several of the resulted synthesized compounds exhibit fascinating biological activities in numerous fields. This has prompted to discover quinolone-based analogues among the researchers due to its great diversity in biological activities. In the past few years, various new, efficient and convenient synthetic approaches (including green chemistry and microwave-assisted synthesis) have been designed and developed to synthesize diverse quinolone-based scaffolds which represent a growing area of interest in academic and industry as well as to explore their biological activities. In this review, an attempt has been made by the authors to summarize (1) One of the most comprehensive listings of quinolone-based drugs or agents in the market or under various stages of clinical development; (2) Recent advances in the synthetic strategies for quinolone derivatives as well as their biological implications including insight of mechanistic studies. (3) Further, the biological data is correlated with structure-activity relationship studies to provide an insight into the rational design of more active agents.

Natural Compounds as Anticancer Agents Targeting DNA Topoisomerases

DNA topoisomerases are important cellular enzymes found in almost all types of living cells (eukaryotic and prokaryotic). These enzymes are essential for various DNA metabolic processes e.g. replication, transcription, recombination, chromosomal decatenation etc. These enzymes are important molecular drug targets and inhibitors of these enzymes are widely used as effective anticancer and antibacterial drugs. However, topoisomerase inhibitors have some therapeutic limitations and they exert serious side effects during cancer chemotherapy. Thus, development of novel anticancer topoisomerase inhibitors is necessary for improving cancer chemotherapy. Nature serves as a repertoire of structurally and chemically diverse molecules and in the recent years many DNA topoisomerase inhibitors have been identified from natural sources. The present review discusses anticancer properties and therapeutic importance of eighteen recently identified natural topoisomerase inhibitors (from the year 2009 to 2015). Structural characteristics of these novel inhibitors provide backbones for designing and developing new anticancer drugs.