Effect of helenalin and bis(helenalinyl)malonate on nucleic acid and protein synthesis in human KB carcinoma cells

Recent Patents on Anti-Cancer Potential of Helenalin

BACKGROUND

Arnica montana, containing helenalin as its principal active constituent, is the most widely used plant to treat various ailments. Recent studies indicate that Arnica and helenalin provide significant health benefits, including anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, antioxidant, cholesterol-lowering, immunomodulatory, and most important, anti-cancer properties.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the present study is to overview the recent patents of Arnica and its principal constituent helenalin, including new methods of isolation, and their use in the prevention of cancer and other ailments.

METHODS

Current prose and patents emphasizing the anti-cancer potential of helenalin and Arnica, incorporated as anti-inflammary agents in anti-cancer preparations, have been identified and reviewed with particular emphasis on their scientific impact and novelty.

RESULTS

Helenalin has shown its anti-cancer potential to treat multiple types of tumors, both in vitro and in vivo. It has also portrayed synergistic effects when given in combination with other anti- cancer drugs or natural compounds. New purification/isolation techniques are also developing with novel helenalin formulations and its synthetic derivatives have been developed to increase its solubility and bioavailability.

CONCLUSION

The promising anti-cancer potential of helenalin in various preclinical studies may open new avenues for therapeutic interventions in different tumors. Thus clinical trials validating its tumor suppressing and chemopreventive activities, particularly in conjunction with standard therapies, are immediately required.

Amphiphilic irinotecan–melampomagnolide B conjugate nanoparticles for cancer chemotherapy

Melampomagnolide B (MMB) is a natural sesquiterpene lactone product structurally related to parthenolide (PTL). Although MMB has been widely used to treat various types of cancers, such as glioma, leukemia and colon cancer, the effective delivery of MMB to cancer cells remains a challenge. An amphiphilic drug–drug conjugate (ADDC) strategy has been proposed and developed as a promising drug self-delivery system for cancer therapy because of its simple preparation, carrier-free nature, and high therapeutic activity. Herein, we present a new ADDC, which is synthesized by linking the hydrophilic anticancer drug irinotecan (Ir) and the hydrophobic anticancer drug MMB through a carbonate bond. The obtained amphiphilic irinotecan–melampomagnolide B conjugate (Ir–C–MMB) can self-assemble in water into stable nanoparticles with an average diameter of around 122.1 nm. After cellular uptake, the carbonate bond between the hydrophilic drug and hydrophobic drug can be cleaved to release free Ir and MMB under acidic conditions, which exhibit a synergistic effect in tumor cells. MTT results reveal that the Ir–C–MMB nanoparticles can effectively inhibit proliferation of cancer cells. The apoptosis data indicate that the apoptosis rate of cells treated with Ir–C–MMB nanoparticles is about 50% within 24 h, which is much higher than that of free Ir or MMB. Our results suggest that this ADDC strategy could be used as a drug delivery platform for MMB and its derivatives, and that it offers effective synergistic therapeutic efficacy.

Ir–C–MMB nanoparticles can be easily fabricated using an ADDC strategy, and used as a MMB drug self-delivery platform for synergistic cancer therapy.

Succinamide derivatives of melampomagnolide B and their anti-cancer activities

A series of succinamide derivatives of melampomagnolide B have been synthesized by coupling MMB monosuccinate (2) with various heterocyclic amines to afford compounds 3a-3l. MMB monosuccinate was also reacted with terminal diaminoalkanes to afford dimeric succinamido analogs of MMB (4a-4h). These succinamide analogs of MMB were evaluated for their anti-cancer activity against a panel of sixty human cancer cell lines. Analogs 3d-3i and dimers 4f-4g exhibited promising anti-cancer activity with GI50 values ranging from 0.28 to 33.5µM against most of the cell lines in the panel. The dimeric analogs 4f and 4g were identified as lead compounds with GI50 values in the nanomolar range (GI50=280-980nM) against several cell lines in the panel; i.e. leukemia cell lines CCRF-CEM, HL-60(TB), K-562, MOLT-4, RPMI-8226 and SR; and solid tumor cell lines NCI-H522 (non-small cell lung cancer), SW-620 and HCT-116 (colon cancer), LOX IMVI (melanoma), RXF 393 (renal cancer), and MCF7, BT-549 and MDA-MB-468 (breast cancer). Succinamide analogs 3a, 3c-3l and 4b-4h were also evaluated for their apoptotic activity against M9-ENL1 acute myelogenous leukemia cells; compounds 3h-3j and 4g were equipotent with parthenolide, exhibiting LC50 values in the range 4.1-8.1μM. Molecular docking studies indicate that these molecules interact covalently with the highly conserved Cys-46 residue of the N-terminal lobe (1-109) of human IKKβ to inhibit the NFκB transcription factor complex, resulting in down-regulation of anti-apoptotic genes under NFκB control.

Biomedical Properties and Origins of Sesquiterpene Lactones, with a Focus on Dehydroleucodine

Dehydroleucodine, a sesquiterpene lactone, belongs to the terpenoid class of secondary metabolites. Dehydroleucodine and other Artemisia-derived phytochemicals evolved numerous biodefenses that were first co-opted for human pharmacological use by traditional cultures in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Later, these phytochemicals were modified through the use of medicinal chemical techniques to increase their potency. All sesquiterpene lactones contain an α-methylene-γ-lactone group, which confers thiol reactivity, which is responsible, in part, for their therapeutic effects. A wide range of therapeutic uses of sequiterpene lactones has been found, including anti-adipogenic, cytoprotective, anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-malarial and, anti-migraine effects. Dehydroleucodine significantly inhibits differentiation of murine preadipocytes and also significantly decreases the accumulation of lipid content by a dramatic down regulation of adipogenic-specific transcriptional factors PPARγ and C-EBPα. Dehydroleucodine also inhibits secretion of matrix metalloprotease-2 (MMP-2), which is a known protease involved in migration and invasion of B16 cells. In addition to these anti-adipogenic and anti-cancer effects, dehydroleucodine effectively neutralizes several bacterial species, including Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aueus (MRSA) and S. epidermis (MRSE). The compound also inhibits the growth and secretion of several toxins of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, possesses gastro-protective qualities and possesses anti-parasitic properties against Trypanosoma cruzi, responsible for Chagas disease. Other sesquiterpene lactones, such as parthenolide, costunolide, and helanin, also possess significant therapeutic utility.

EM23, a natural sesquiterpene lactone, targets thioredoxin reductase to activate JNK and cell death pathways in human cervical cancer cells

Sesquiterpene lactones (SLs) are the active constituents of a variety of medicinal plants and found to have potential anticancer activities. However, the intracellular molecular targets of SLs and the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been well elucidated. In this study, we observed that EM23, a natural SL, exhibited anti-cancer activity in human cervical cancer cell lines by inducing apoptosis as indicated by caspase 3 activation, XIAP downregulation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Mechanistic studies indicated that EM23-induced apoptosis was mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the knockdown of thioredoxin (Trx) or thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) resulted in a reduction in apoptosis. EM23 attenuated TrxR activity by alkylation of C-terminal redox-active site Sec498 of TrxR and inhibited the expression levels of Trx/TrxR to facilitate ROS accumulation. Furthermore, inhibition of Trx/TrxR system resulted in the dissociation of ASK1 from Trx and the downstream activation of JNK. Pretreatment with ASK1/JNK inhibitors partially rescued cells from EM23-induced apoptosis. Additionally, EM23 inhibited Akt/mTOR pathway and induced autophagy, which was observed to be proapoptotic and mediated by ROS. Together, these results reveal a potential molecular mechanism for the apoptotic induction observed with SL compound EM23, and emphasize its putative role as a therapeutic agent for human cervical cancer.

Crystal structure of (1R,3S,8R,11R)-11-acetyl-3,7,7-trimethyl-10-oxatri-cyclo-[6.4.0.0(1,3)]dodecan-9-one

The title compound, C16H24O3, is built up from three fused rings, a six-membered, a seven-membered and a three-membered ring. The absolute configuration of the title compound was determined as (1R,3S,8R,11R) based on the synthetic pathway. The six-membered ring has an half-chair conformation whereas the seven-membered ring displays a boat conformation. In the cyrstal, C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds build up a two-dimensional network parallel to (0 0 1). The crystal studied was an inversion twin with a minor twin component of 34%.

Antitumor agents--CLI. Bis(helenalinyl)glutarate and bis(isoalantodiol-B)glutarate, potent inhibitors of human DNA topoisomerase II

Evaluation of a number of cytotoxic antitumor sesquiterpene lactones and their derivatives has led to the discovery of bis(helenalinyl)glutarate (4) and bis(isoalantodiol-B)glutarate (10) as potent inhibitors of human-derived topoisomerase II. Unlike etoposide, which inhibits by preventing the DNA rejoining process, compounds 4 and 10 inhibit topoisomerase II without causing DNA breakage. The structure-activity relationships of 4, 10, and related compounds are discussed.

Renal, hepatic, cardiac and thymic acute toxicity afforded by bis(helenalinyl)malonate in BDF1 mice

Bis(helenalinyl)malonate [BHM], a pharmacologically active sesquiterpene lactone potentially useful as an antineoplastic agent, proved to be less toxic than its parent compound, helenalin. Its LD50 in BDF1 mice, i.p. was more than twice that of helenalin. Its lower toxicity allowed a higher therapeutic dose (15 mg/kg/day vs. 8 mg/kg/day for helenalin) which, in turn, afforded a greater T/C% (261 vs. 161). When BHM was employed at its therapeutic dose of 15 mg/kg/day, no marked toxicity was evident after three daily doses. However, continuation of treatment at this level led to both kidney and liver toxicity as measured by clinical chemistry parameters. Histological lesions in the thymus and kidney were demonstrated within 48 h at 25 mg/kg as a single dose. Apparently the toxicity was delayed with BHM but accumulated over time. Transient cardiotoxicity occurred with the drug and the agent was suspected of causing intestinal blockage.