Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel betulinic acid derivatives

Biomolecular Interactions and Anticancer Mechanisms of Ru(II)-Arene Complexes of Cinnamaldehyde-Derived Thiosemicarbazone Ligands: Analysis Combining In Silico and In Vitro Approaches

Our study focuses on synthesizing and exploring the potential of three N-(4) substituted thiosemicarbazones derived from cinnamic aldehyde, alongside their Ru(II)-(η6 -p-cymene)/(η6-benzene) complexes. The synthesized compounds were comprehensively characterized using a range of analytical techniques, including FT-IR, UV-visible spectroscopy, NMR (1H, 13C), and HRMS. We investigated their electronic and physicochemical properties via density functional theory (DFT). X-ray crystal structures validated structural differences identified by DFT. Molecular docking predicted promising bioactivities, supported by experimental observations. Notably, docking with EGFR suggested an inhibitory potential against this cancer-related protein. Spectroscopic titrations revealed significant DNA/BSA binding affinities, particularly with DNA intercalation and BSA hydrophobic interactions. RuPCAM displayed the strongest binding affinity with DNA (Kb = 6.23 × 107 M-1) and BSA (Kb = 9.75 × 105 M-1). Assessed the cytotoxicity of the complexes on cervical cancer cells (HeLa), and breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB 231), revealing remarkable potency. Additionally, selectivity was assessed by examining MCF-10a normal cell lines. The active complexes were found to trigger apoptosis, a vital cellular process crucial for evaluating their potential as anticancer agents utilizing staining assays and flow cytometry analysis. Intriguingly, complexation with Ru(II)-arene precursors significantly amplified the bioactivity of thiosemicarbazones, unveiling promising avenues toward the creation of powerful anticancer agents.

Comparison of In Vitro Antimelanoma and Antimicrobial Activity of 2,3-Indolo-betulinic Acid and Its Glycine Conjugates

Malignant melanoma is one of the most pressing problems in the developing world. New therapeutic agents that might be effective in treating malignancies that have developed resistance to conventional medications are urgently required. Semisynthesis is an essential method for improving the biological activity and the therapeutic efficacy of natural product precursors. Semisynthetic derivatives of natural compounds are valuable sources of new drug candidates with a variety of pharmacological actions, including anticancer ones. Two novel semisynthetic derivatives of betulinic acid-N-(2,3-indolo-betulinoyl)diglycylglycine (BA1) and N-(2,3-indolo-betulinoyl)glycylglycine (BA2)-were designed and their antiproliferative, cytotoxic, and anti-migratory activity against A375 human melanoma cells was determined in comparison with known N-(2,3-indolo-betulinoyl)glycine (BA3), 2,3-indolo-betulinic acid (BA4) and naturally occurring betulinic acid (BI). A dose-dependent antiproliferative effect with IC₅₀ values that ranged from 5.7 to 19.6 µM was observed in the series of all five compounds including betulinic acid. The novel compounds BA1 (IC₅₀ = 5.7 µM) and BA2 (IC₅₀ = 10.0 µM) were three times and two times more active than the parent cyclic structure B4 and natural BI. Additionally, compounds BA2, BA3, and BA4 possess antibacterial activity against Streptococcus pyogenes ATCC 19615 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 with MIC values in the range of 13-16 µg/mL and 26-32 µg/mL, respectively. On the other hand, antifungal activity toward Candida albicans ATCC 10231 and Candida parapsilosis ATCC 22019 was found for compound BA3 with MIC 29 µg/mL. This is the first report of antibacterial and antifungal activity of 2,3-indolo-betulinic acid derivatives and also the first extended report on their anti-melanoma activity, which among others includes data on anti-migratory activity and shows the significance of amino acid side chain on the observed activity. The obtained data justify further research on the anti-melanoma and antimicrobial activity of 2,3-indolo-betulinic acid derivatives.

Apoptosis-promoting and migration-suppressing effect of alantolactone on gastric cancer cell lines BGC-823 and SGC-7901 via regulating p38MAPK and NF-κB pathways

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer is a malignant tumor with high incidence rate and mortality rate.

PURPOSE

In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer effect of alantolactone, a sesquiterpene lactone, on gastric cancer cell lines BGC-823 and SGC-7901.

METHODS

BGC-823 and SGC-7901 cells were treated with different concentrations of alantolactone, Hoechst 33258 staining, flow cytometry, wound healing assay, invasion assay, colony forming assay, quantative polymerase chain reaction, and western blot analysis were used to evaluate the anticancer activity of alantolactone to gastric cancer.

RESULTS

Alantolactone induced apoptosis of gastric cancer cells by regulating the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, and p53, which related to intrinsic apoptotic pathway, and suppressed colony formation, migration, and invasion by mediating the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-7, and MMP-9. Cell signaling pathway analysis showed that alantolactone enhanced the phosphorylation of p38 and decreased the translocation of nucleus p65, suggesting that the apoptosis-promoting and migration-suppressing effect of alantolactone might at least partially rely on regulating p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) pathway and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

Alantolactone can be used as a potential therapeutic agent for treating gastric cancer.

Recent Developments in the Functionalization of Betulinic Acid and Its Natural Analogues: A Route to New Bioactive Compounds

Betulinic acid (BA) and its natural analogues betulin (BN), betulonic (BoA), and 23-hydroxybetulinic (HBA) acids are lupane-type pentacyclic triterpenoids. They are present in many plants and display important biological activities. This review focuses on the chemical transformations used to functionalize BA/BN/BoA/HBA in order to obtain new derivatives with improved biological activity, covering the period since 2013 to 2018. It is divided by the main chemical transformations reported in the literature, including amination, esterification, alkylation, sulfonation, copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition, palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling, hydroxylation, and aldol condensation reactions. In addition, the synthesis of heterocycle-fused BA/HBA derivatives and polymer‒BA conjugates are also addressed. The new derivatives are mainly used as antitumor agents, but there are other biological applications such as antimalarial activity, drug delivery, bioimaging, among others.

Synthesis and Cytotoxicity of 28-N-Propargylaminoalkylated 2,3-Indolotriterpenic acids

A new series of propargylaminoalkyl derivatives with N-methylpiperazine and morpholine fragments was obtained by modification of the carboxyl group of [3,2b]-indolotriterpenic acids ( N-propargylation, Cu(I) catalyzed Mannich reaction). Cytotoxicity assays demonstrated that oleanane-type conjugate with N-methylpiperazine exhibited high antitumor activity against leukemia cell line SR and non-small cell lung cancer cell line NCI-H460.

Synthesis and antiproliferative properties of new hydrophilic esters of triterpenic acids

To improve the properties of cytotoxic triterpenoid acids 1-5, a large set of hydrophilic esters was synthesized. We choose betulinic acid (1), dihydrobetulinic acid (2), 21-oxoacid 3 along with highly active des-E lupane acids 4 and 5 as a model set of compounds for esterification of which the properties needed to be improved. As ester moieties were used - methoxyethanol and 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethanol and glycolic unit (type a-d), pyrrolidinoethanol, piperidinoethanol and morpholinoethanol (type f-h), and monosaccharide groups (type i-l). As a result, 56 triterpenic esters (49 new compounds) were obtained and their cytotoxicity on four cancer cell lines and normal human fibroblasts was tested. All new compounds were fully soluble at all tested concentrations, which used to be a problem of the parent compounds 1 and 2. 16 compounds had IC₅₀ < 10 μM on at least one cancer cell line, 12 compounds had cytotoxicity of <10 μM against at least three of four tested cancer cell lines. The highest activity was found for compound 3c (1.8 μM on MCF7, 2.8 μM on HeLa, and 1.6 μM on G-361 cells) which also had no toxicity on non-cancerous BJ fibroblasts at the highest tested concentration (50 μM). High selective cytotoxicity was also found in compounds 1k, 2k, 3c, and 3i that are ideal candidates for drug development. Therefore, more studies to identify the mechanism of action were performed in case of 1k, 3c, and 3g such as effects on cell cycle and apoptosis. It was found that compounds 3c and 3g can induce apoptosis via caspase-3 activation and modulation of protein Bcl-2 in G-361 cells. In conclusion, compounds 1k, 3c, and 3g show high and selective cytotoxicity, therefore they are significantly better candidates for anti-cancer drug development than the parent acids 1-5.

Novel derivatives of deoxycholic acid bearing aliphatic or cyclic diamine moieties at the C-3 position: Synthesis and evaluation of anti-proliferative activity

A new library of deoxycholic acid derivatives bearing nitrogen-containing moieties at the C-3 position was synthesised from epoxy derivative 1 via an epoxide ring-opening reaction promoted by aliphatic or cyclic diamines and fully characterised by NMR and mass-spectroscopy. The synthesised compounds were screened for cytotoxicity against four human tumour cell lines. The results showed that some of the novel diamine-bearing derivatives displayed improved anti-proliferative activities over the parent compound DCA. Among them, a 1-methylpiperazine containing compound (6) showed promising activity and the highest selectivity against tumour cells of enterohepatic origin (HepG2: IC₅₀=3.6µM, SI=9.0; HuTu-80: IC₅₀=4.6µM, SI=6.9) and was identified as a lead molecule.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of the novel glycyrrhetinic acid-cinnamoyl hybrids as anti-tumor agents

Background

Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) derivatives had shown not only cytotoxicity but also could trigger apoptosis in various human cancer cell lines. Moreover, cinnamic acid (CA) and its phenolic analogues as potent antitumor agents were employed in the design of anti-tumor drugs. To further improve the anti-tumor activity of GA and CA derivatives, a series of novel compounds were designed and synthesized using GA and CA derivatives fragments.

Results

The result showed that all the novel glycyrrhetinic acid-cinnamoyl (GA–CA) hybrids presented higher antitumor activity on the tumor cell lines of HepG2, HT-29, Hela and lower cytotoxicity on three non-tumor cells lines MDCK, HY926, H9C2 than the parent compounds (IC₅₀ > 50 μM). It was worth noting that 8a had a superior cytotoxicity effect on Hela cells (IC₅₀ = 8.54 μM) than on other cancer cell lines (IC₅₀ > 15 μM). And it also indicated that 8a showed lower cytotoxicity (IC₅₀ > 27 μM) towards MDCK, HY926 and H9C2 cells than cisplatin (DDP, IC₅₀ < 10 μM). Moreover, according to the acute toxicity, it could be indicated that the LD₅₀ of 8a exceeded 3.0 g/kg by oral administration in mice. The further research using Giemsa, H33342 staining, flow cytometric analysis and caspase-3 assay showed that 8a could cause Hela cell damage, nuclei lysis and apoptosis. In addition, the structure–activity relationships of these hybrids were briefly discussed.

Conclusions

Compared with GA, target compounds demonstrated better anti-tumor activity, among which 8a was the most active one. What’s more, structure–activity relationship analysis also revealed that hybrids with trans olefinic bond group show higher antitumor activity than those without olefinic bond, such as 1a > 1b, 6a > 2b, 8a > 3b, 9a > 4b. In addition, it was found that the methoxy substituent might enhance selectivity of GA–CA hybrids towards regular non-cancerous cells MDCK, HY926 and H9C2, such as 4a, 6a, 7a, 8a. However, there might be less relationship between the cytotoxicity and the quantity, position of methoxy moiety. Hence, it is urgent need to synthesize efficient, low toxicity and multi-target anti-tumor compounds based on the structure combination principle.

Growth inhibitive effect of betulinic acid combined with tripterine on MSB-1 cells and its mechanism

Marek's disease (MD), a highly infectious lymphoproliferative disease in chickens, is caused by a cell-associated oncogenic herpesvirus, Marek's disease virus (MDV). MSB-1 is a MD-derived lymphoblastoid cell line and can induce tumors when inoculated into susceptible chickens. Betulinic acid, which is present as one of the major effective components in many traditional Chinese medicines, has recently been reported to inhibit growth of cancer cells and employed as a potential anticancer agent. Tripterine, a major active compound extracted from the Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, has now also shown anti-tumor activities in various cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the synergistic growth-inhibitive effect of betulinic acid combined with tripterine on MSB-1 cells and its mechanism. Viability of MSB-1 cells was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-y1)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. Cell apoptotic analysis was performed by fluorescence detection. NF-κB transcription activity was detected by measuring luciferase activity. Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of p65, IκB and Meq. Our results showed that the proliferation in the combination group was significantly decreased as compared with that of monotherapy using betulinic acid or tripterine, accompanied by an induction of apoptosis, inhibition of NF-κB transcriptional activity and its targeting oncogenic gene Meq. The results suggest that the combination of betulinic acid and tripterine at lower concentration may produce a synergistic inhibitive effect on MSB-1 cells that warrants further investigation for its potential clinical applications.

Synthesis and in vitro antitumor evaluation of betulin acid ester derivatives as novel apoptosis inducers

Nineteen betulin derivatives modified at the C-3 and C-28 positions were synthesized and assessed for antitumor activities against the MGC-803, PC3, Bcap-37, A375, and MCF-7 human cancer cell lines in vitro by MTT assay. Some derivatives (compounds 3a-3d and 5) displayed strong antitumor properties, with IC50 values between 4 and 18 μM. Compound 3c, containing piperidine group at C-28 position, had IC50 values of 4.3, 4.5, 5.2, 7.5, and 5.2 μM on the five cancer cell lines, respectively. Subsequent fluorescence staining and flow cytometric analysis indicated that compound 3c induced apoptosis in MGC-803 cell line, with an apoptosis ratio of 31.11% after 36 h of treatment at 10 μM 3c.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of betulonic acid derivatives as antitumor agents

Structural modification was performed at the C-28 position of betulonic acid (BetA). Twenty-five BetA derivatives were synthesized, and evaluated for their antitumor activities against MGC-803, PC3, Bcap-37, A375, and MCF-7 human cancer cell lines by MTT assay. Among the derivatives, most of the derivatives had significant antiproliferative ability (IC50 < 19 μM). Compound 3k, the most active compound, showed IC50 values of 3.6, 5.6, 4.2, 7.8, and 5.2 μM on the five cancer cell lines respectively, and was selected to investigate cell apoptosis by subsequent florescence staining and flow cytometry analysis. The results revealed that compound 3k could induce apoptosis in MGC-803 cell lines, and the apoptosis ratios reached 28.33% after 36 h of treatment at 10 μM. In addition, the study of cancer cell apoptotic signaling pathway indicated that the apoptosis of MGC-803 cells induced by compound 3k could be through the mitochondrial intrinsic pathway.

Folate decorated delivery of self assembled betulinic acid nano fibers: a biocompatible anti-leukemic therapy

The study was aimed to develop folate receptor mediated delivery of self assembled betulinic acid nano fibers to leukemic cells and to investigate their mode of action.

Preparation, anticholinesterase activity and molecular docking of new lupane derivatives

A set of twenty one lupane derivatives (2-22) was prepared from the natural triterpenoid calenduladiol (1) by transformations on the hydroxyl groups at C-3 and C-16, and also on the isopropenyl moiety. The derivatives were tested for their inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and some structure-activity relationships were outlined with the aid of enzyme kinetic studies and docking modelization. The most active compound resulted to be 3,16,30-trioxolup-20(29)-ene (22), with an IC50 value of 21.5μM for butyrylcholinesterase, which revealed a selective inhibitor profile towards this enzyme.