Metal-promoted synthesis of steroidal ethynyl selenides having anticancer activity

In this study, we have described simple and efficient methodology for the metal-promoted (Cu₂I₂) preparation of steroidal ethynyl selenides. The compounds were characterized using ¹H, ¹³C and ⁷⁷Se NMR, FT IR spectroscopy, and MS analysis. A proposed mechanism of the metal-promoted reaction involves the formation of a σ-bound copper acetylide. Due to the fact that organoselenium-based compounds possess a pleiotropic properties and associated with their promising biological activities, in the next step of the study biocompatibility and anticancer activity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated. Steroidal selenides were tested in vitro against estrogen-depend breast cancer cells MCF-7 using spectrophotometric, fluorometric and luminometric methods. Designed selenides showed high hemocompatibility, lack of toxicity against cardiomyocytes cell and great anti-cancer activity in vitro against estrogen-depend breast cancer cells upon 24 h of treatment. We revealed that selenides decrease the viability and proliferation ability of MCF-7 cells by induction of cell apoptosis. It has been noted that the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and associated with its activation of Caspase 3/7 are a major mechanism that is responsible of selenides-caused cell death. These data indicate that organoselenium based compounds have great antineoplastic potential and might be developed as novel class of agents dedicated to the breast-cancer therapies.

Selenosteroids - promising hybrid compounds with pleiotropic biological activity: synthesis and biological aspects

It is established that steroid based agents are an example of compounds obtained from natural patterns and are of great importance due to their application in the prevention and treatment of diseases. Selenosteroids are hybrids formed by attaching Se-moiety to a steroid molecule. In these types of hybrids, selenium can be present as selenide or as a part of selenosemicarbazones, isoselenocyanates, selenourea, etc. Attaching a Se-moiety to a biologically active steroid might enhance the biological properties of both fragments. Available literature indicates that these kinds of hybrids demonstrate significant anticancer activity, which renders them interesting in terms of medical use. In this review, we present various methods of synthesis and demonstrate that seleno-steroid compounds are promising molecules for further pharmaceutical application.