Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Benzo[d ][1,3]Dioxol-5-yl Chalcones as Antiproliferating Agents

Design, synthesis, and validation of novel nitrogen-based chalcone analogs against triple negative breast cancer

Great strides have been made in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) treatment, which represents 20% of total predicted annual US breast cancer (BC) cases. Despite the development of several therapeutics, TNBC patients have poor overall survival rate, compared to other BC patients, justifying the urgent need to discover new entities for use to control TNBC. Chalcones are important natural products with diverse bioactivities including anticancer effects. This study aimed to design, synthesize and validate novel chalcone leads as potential therapies for TNBC. Fourteen novel chalcone analogs were designed and synthesized comprising alicyclic amines (pyrrolidine, morpholine and piperidine) or nitrogen mustard (Bis-(2-chloroethyl) amine) substituents. Among them, compound 14((E)-3-(4-(Bis(2-chloroethyl) amino) phenyl)-1-(3-methoxyphenyl) prop-2-en-1-one) was identified as the most effective against TNBC and other BC phenotypes, with anti-proliferative IC₅₀ values ranging between 3.94 and 9.22 μM against the TNBC cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468, as well as against the estrogen positive MCF-7 cell line. Chalcone 14 effectively suppressed the colony formation capacity of MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, and MCF-7 cell lines at 5 and 10 μM treatment concentrations. Furthermore, compound 14 has significantly inhibited cell invasion and migration of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 BC cell lines. Additionally, compound 14 had significantly promoted apoptosis by upregulating BAX and downregulating Bcl-2 proteins. Compound 14 induced significant cell cycle arrest of TNBC cells at the G2/M phase. It also induced a reversal of Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) by upregulating the epithelial markers E-cadherin and Pan-cadherin and downregulating FAK. Furthermore, it had dramatically diminished new vessel formation (vasculogenesis) in chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model by 60.20 ± 8.47%. Chalcone 14 inhibited 46.41 ± 0.71% of the TNBC MAD-MB-231 cells growth in a nude mouse orthotopic xenograft model in comparison with vehicle control treated animals. Collectively, this study results propose chalcone 14 as a promising lead molecule for the control of TNBC as well as other breast cancer phenotypes.

Targeting triple negative breast cancer heterogeneity with chalcones: a molecular insight

Triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are aggressive heterogeneous cancers with not yet determined conventional targeted medication. Therefore, identification of new alternatives or improved treatment options to combat this deadly disease is highly needed. On the other hand, various derived products with chalcone scaffold were historically considered excellent candidates for the development of anticancer drugs. Chalcones unique chemical structure and their substantial biological activities in cancer cells make them an extremely attractive target for the treatment of several human carcinomas including TNBCs. This review highlights the promising therapeutic role of chalcones in TNBC management.

Spatane diterpinoid from the brown algae, Stoechospermum marginatum induces apoptosis via ROS induced mitochondrial mediated caspase dependent pathway in murine B16F10 melanoma cells

Spatane diterpinoids isolated from the brown marine algae Stoechospermum marginatum were known to have cytotoxic effects in human cancerous cell lines and murine melanoma cells; the underling apoptotic mechanism of diterpinoids still remains unclear so far. Thus, in the present study, the apoptotic mechanism of a spatane diterpinoid, 5(R), 19-diacetoxy-15,18(R and S), dihydro spata-13, 16(E)-diene (DDSD) was investigated mainly in B16F10 melanoma cells because they were most susceptible to DDSD than THP1, U937, COLO205, and HL60 cells. The treatment of B6F10 cells with DDSD resulted in morphological alterations, nuclear condensation, and DNA fragmentation, which leads to cell growth inhibition in a concentration-dependent manner. Data indicate that DDSD induced the generation of ROS, consequentially caused alteration in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio that disrupted the inner mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨm) resulting in cytochrome c redistribution to the cytoplasm and activation of caspase-mediated apoptotic pathway. Flow cytometric analysis clearly indicated that the DDSD inducing phosphatidylserine externalization and mediated "S-phase" arrest in cell cycle. In addition, results also found that DDSD induced apoptosis through deregulating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. The anti-tumor activity of DDSD was evaluated in C57BL/6 mice bearing B16F10 melanoma. It effectively inhibited tumor growth (volume and weight) in a dose dependent manner, yet without apparent toxic effects. Morphology and apoptotic status of tumor tissues in the treated mice were assessed by microscopy and TUNEL assay, respectively. Our study shows a therapeutic potential of DDSD for the treatment of malignant melanoma and a new source of anticancer drugs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.