Phenol quaternary ammonium derivatives: charge and linker effect on their DNA photo-inducible cross-linking abilities

Cavitational chemistry: a mild and efficient multi-component synthesis of amidoalkyl-2-naphthols using reusable silica chloride as catalyst under sonic conditions

An efficient and direct procedure for the synthesis of amidoalkyl-2-naphthol derivatives has been described. The process employs a three-component cyclocondensation reaction in one-pot using β-naphthol, aromatic aldehyde and acetamide or benzamide in the presence of silica chloride accelerated by ultrasound giving the product in excellent yield in very short duration.

Structure-activity relationships and mechanism of action of antitumor bis 8-hydroxyquinoline substituted benzylamines

A series of twenty six 8-hydroxyquinoline substituted amines, structurally related to compounds 2 and 3, were synthesized to evaluate the effects of structural changes on antitumor activity and understand their mechanism of action. The studies were performed on a wide variety of cancer cell lines within glioma and carcinoma models. The results obtained from chemical models and biological techniques such as microarrays suggest the following hypothesis that a quinone methide intermediate which does not react with DNA but which gives covalent protein thiol adducts. Micro-array analysis showed that the drugs induce the expression of a variety of stress related genes responsible for the cytotoxic and cytostatic effects in carcinoma and glioblastoma cells respectively. The described analogues could represent new promising anti-cancer candidates with specific action mechanisms, targeting accessible thiols from specific proteins and inducing potent anti-cancer effects.

Synthesis and evaluation of cationic phthalocyanine derivatives as potential inhibitors of telomerase

A series of water-soluble cationic phthalocyanine derivatives (1-10) were designed and synthesized to develop novel and potent telomerase inhibitors. These phthalocyanine derivatives as inhibitors of telomerase were investigated via modified telomerase repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay. The TRAP assay indicates that these cationic compounds had strong telomerase inhibitory activity (IC(50)<1.65 microM). To determine whether the phthalocyanine derivatives binding to G-quadruplex enhance the block to DNA synthesis, primer extension reactions were carried out in the presence of phthalocyanines. The interaction of the G-quadruplex of telomerase DNA with these molecules was examined by CD melting and PCR stop assay. These cationic phthalocyanine derivatives can stabilize G-quadruplex, which is demonstrated by the increased T(m) values. All these results indicate that the phthalocyanine derivatives might be potential lead compounds for the development of new telomerase inhibitor.

Medicinal Studies of Dimeric Phenols with Multiple Quaternary-Ammonium Pendant Arms

A series of biphenol-derived quaternary ammonium salts, originally developed as DNA-cross-linking agents, and carrying either two (i.e., 1) or four (i.e., 2) net positive charges, were investigated for their in vitro DNA-transcription- and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibitory activities. The effects of charge and type of linker between the two phenolic residues were systematically investigated. Several compounds showed good activities in both tests, which makes them potential lead candidates for drug design.