Hybrid 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2-(thi)ones as dual-functional bioactive molecules: fluorescent probes and cytotoxic agents to cancer cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (29) ◽  
pp. 12440-12451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa P. de Souza ◽  
Fabiano S. Santos ◽  
Fabiano S. Rodembusch ◽  
Carolyne B. Braga ◽  
Catia Ornelas ◽  
...  

A series of new hybrid fluorescent Biginelli compounds, including a Monastrol derivative, were designed and synthesized with good yields.

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-149
Author(s):  
Saleem Farooq ◽  
Javid A. Banday ◽  
Aashiq Hussain ◽  
Momina Nazir ◽  
Mushtaq A. Qurishi ◽  
...  

Background: Natural product, osthol has been found to have important biological and pharmacological roles particularly having inhibitory effect on multiple types of cancer. Objective: The unmet needs in cancer therapeutics make its derivatization an important and exciting field of research. Keeping this in view, a whole new series of diverse analogues of osthol (1) were synthesized. Method: All the newly synthesized compounds were made through modification in the lactone ring as well as in the side chain of the osthol molecule and were subjected to anti-proliferative screening through 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-yl)-diphenyl tetrazoliumbromide (MTT) against four different human cancers of diverse origins viz. Colon (Colo-205), lung (A549), Leukemia (THP- 1) and breast (MCF-7) including SV40 transformed normal breast epithelial cell (fR-2). Results: Interestingly, among the tested molecules, most of the analogs displayed better antiproliferative activity than the parent Osthol 1. However, among all the tested analogs, compound 28 exhibited the best results against leukemia (THP1) cell line with IC50 of 5µM.Compound 28 induced potent apoptotic effects and G1 phase arrest in leukemia cancer cells (THP1). The population of apoptotic cells increased from 13.8% in negative control to 26.9% at 8μM concentration of 28. Compound 28 also induced a remarkable decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential (ΛΨm) leading to apoptosis of the cancer cells. Conclusion: A novel series of molecules derived from natural product osthol were synthesized, wherein compound 28 was found to be most effective against leukemia and with 10 fold less toxicity against normal cells. The compound induced cancer inhibition mainly through apoptosis and thus has a potential in cancer therapeutics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 482-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Kostadinova ◽  
Milena Mourdjeva

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are localized throughout the adult body as a small population in the stroma of the tissue concerned. In injury, tissue damage, or tumor formation, they are activated and leave their niche to migrate to the site of injury, where they release a plethora of growth factors, cytokines, and other bioactive molecules. With the accumulation of data about the interaction between MSCs and tumor cells, the dualistic role of MSCs remains unclear. However, a large number of studies have demonstrated the natural anti-tumor properties inherent in MSCs, so this is the basis for intensive research for new methods using MSCs as a tool to suppress cancer cell development. This review focuses specifically on advanced approaches in modifying MSCs to become a powerful, precision- targeted tool for killing cancer cells, but not normal healthy cells. Suppression of tumor growth by MSCs can be accomplished by inducing apoptosis or cell cycle arrest, suppressing tumor angiogenesis, or blocking mechanisms mediating metastasis. In addition, the chemosensitivity of cancer cells may be increased so that the dose of the chemotherapeutic agent used could be significantly reduced.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 970-981
Author(s):  
Hamed A. Ghramh ◽  
Essam H. Ibrahim ◽  
Mona Kilnay

Background: Juniperus procera and Majra honey are well-known as a folk medicine in many countries. Objectives: This work aimed to study the immunomodulatory effects after mixing Majra honey, J. procera water leaves extract and silver Nanoparticles (AgNPs) on immune or cancer cells. Methods: Juniperus procera water leaves extract and 20% Majra honey were prepared. Both the extract and honey were used separately to synthesize AgNPs. AgNPs were characterized using UV/Vis spectrophotometry and electron microscopy. Bioactive molecules in honey and the extract were explored using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Protein profile of honey was explored using Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate- Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and honey sugar content was determined using High- Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Biological activities of honey and the extract were tested. Results: The results demonstrated the ability of the extract/honey to produce AgNPs in a spherical shape. The extract/honey contained many functional groups. SDS-PAGE of Majra honey showed many protein bands. HPLC revealed honey is of good quality and no external additives are added to it. The extract and extract+ AgNPs inhibited the growth of normal rat splenic cells while honey stimulated it. The extract+honey turned stimulatory to the splenic cells’ growth and significantly diminished the inhibitory potential of the extract containing AgNPs. Both the extract and honey have antimicrobial activities, this potential increased in the presence of AgNPs. Honey and Honey+AgNPs inhibited HepG2 cancer cell proliferation while Hela cell growth inhibited only with honey+AgNPs. Conclusion: Both honey and the extract have antibacterial and immunomodulatory potentials as well as the power to produce AgNPs. Majra honey alone showed anticancer activity against HepGe2 cells, but not against Hela cells, and when contained AgNPs had anticancer activity on both cell lines. Mixing of Majra honey with J. procera extract showed characterized immunomodulatory potentials that can be described as immunostimulant.


Planta Medica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerald J. Nair ◽  
Johannes van Staden

AbstractOver 600 alkaloids have to date been identified in the plant family Amaryllidaceae. These have been arranged into as many as 15 different groups based on their characteristic structural features. The vast majority of studies on the biological properties of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids have probed their anticancer potential. While most efforts have focused on the major alkaloid groups, the volume and diversity afforded by the minor alkaloid groups have promoted their usefulness as targets for cancer cell line screening purposes. This survey is an in-depth review of such activities described for around 90 representatives from 10 minor alkaloid groups of the Amaryllidaceae. These have been evaluated against over 60 cell lines categorized into 18 different types of cancer. The montanine and cripowellin groups were identified as the most potent, with some in the latter demonstrating low nanomolar level antiproliferative activities. Despite their challenging molecular architectures, the minor alkaloid groups have allowed for facile adjustments to be made to their structures, thereby altering the size, geometry, and electronics of the targets available for structure-activity relationship studies. Nevertheless, it was seen with a regular frequency that the parent alkaloids were better cytotoxic agents than the corresponding semisynthetic derivatives. There has also been significant interest in how the minor alkaloid groups manifest their effects in cancer cells. Among the various targets and pathways in which they were seen to mediate, their ability to induce apoptosis in cancer cells is most appealing.


2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angeles Alvarez Secord ◽  
Deanna Teoh ◽  
Jingquan Jia ◽  
Andrew B. Nixon ◽  
Lisa Grace ◽  
...  

PurposeThis study aimed to explore the activity of dasatinib in combination with docetaxel, gemcitabine, topotecan, and doxorubicin in ovarian cancer cells.MethodsCells with previously determined SRC pathway and protein expression (SRC pathway/SRC protein IGROV1, both high; SKOV3, both low) were treated with dasatinib in combination with the cytotoxic agents. SRC and paxillin protein expression were determined pretreatment and posttreatment. Dose-response curves were constructed, and the combination index (CI) for drug interaction was calculated.ResultsIn the IGROV1 cells, dasatinib alone reduced phospho-SRC/total SRC 71% and p-paxillin/t-paxillin ratios 77%. Phospho-SRC (3%–33%; P = 0.002 to 0.04) and p-paxicillin (6%–19%; P = 0.01 to 0.05) levels were significantly reduced with dasatinib in combination with each cytotoxic agent. The combination of dasatinib and docetaxel, gemcitabine, or topotecan had a synergistic antiproliferative effect (CI, 0.49–0.68), whereas dasatinib combined with doxorubicin had an additive effect (CI, 1.08).In SKOV3 cells, dasatinib resulted in less pronounced reductions of phospho-SRC/total SRC (49%) and p-paxillin/t-paxillin (62%). Phospho-SRC (18%; P < 0.001) and p-paxillin levels (18%; P = 0.001; 9%; P = 0.007) were significantly decreased when dasatinib was combined with docetaxel and topotecan (p-paxillin only). Furthermore, dasatinib combined with the cytotoxics in the SKOV3 cells produced an antagonistic interaction on the proliferation of these cells (CI, 1.49–2.27).ConclusionsDasatinib in combination with relapse chemotherapeutic agents seems to interact in a synergistic or additive manner in cells with high SRC pathway activation and protein expression. Further evaluation of dasatinib in combination with chemotherapy in ovarian cancer animal models and exploration of the use of biomarkers to direct therapy are warranted.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1824
Author(s):  
Yu-Jyuan Wang ◽  
Pei-Ying Lin ◽  
Shu-Ling Hsieh ◽  
Rajendranath Kirankumar ◽  
Hsin-Yi Lin ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to use agar as a multifunctional encapsulating material to allow drug and ferromagnetism to be jointly delivered in one nanoparticle. We successfully encapsulated both Fe3O4 and doxorubicin (DOX) with agar as the drug carrier to obtain DOX-Fe3O4@agar. The iron oxide nanoparticles encapsulated in the carrier maintained good saturation of magnetization (41.9 emu/g) and had superparamagnetism. The heating capacity test showed that the specific absorption rate (SAR) value was 18.9 ± 0.5 W/g, indicating that the ferromagnetic nanoparticles encapsulated in the gel still maintained good heating capacity. Moreover, the magnetocaloric temperature could reach 43 °C in a short period of five minutes. In addition, DOX-Fe3O4@agar reached a maximum release rate of 85% ± 3% in 56 min under a neutral pH 7.0 to simulate the intestinal environment. We found using fluorescent microscopy that DOX entered HT-29 human colon cancer cells and reduced cell viability by 66%. When hyperthermia was induced with an auxiliary external magnetic field, cancer cells could be further killed, with a viability of only 15.4%. These results show that agar is an efficient multiple-drug carrier, and allows controlled drug release. Thus, this synergic treatment has potential application value for biopharmaceutical carrier materials.


Cancers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Sugano ◽  
Yoshihiro Shirai ◽  
Takashi Horiuchi ◽  
Nobuhiro Saito ◽  
Yohta Shimada ◽  
...  

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery is the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced low rectal cancer. However, several studies have reported that ionizing radiation (IR) activates nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) that causes radioresistance and induces matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2/-9, which promote tumor migration and invasion. Nafamostat mesilate (FUT175), a synthetic serine protease inhibitor, enhances the chemosensitivity to cytotoxic agents in digestive system cancer cells by inhibiting NF-κB activation. Therefore, we evaluated the combined effect of IR and FUT175 on cell proliferation, migration and invasion of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. IR-induced upregulation of intranuclear NF-κB, FUT175 counteracted this effect. Moreover, the combination treatment suppressed cell viability and induced apoptosis. Similar effects were also observed in xenograft tumors. In addition, FUT175 prevented the migration and invasion of cancer cells caused by IR by downregulating the enzymatic activity of MMP-2/-9. In conclusion, FUT175 enhances the anti-tumor effect of radiotherapy through downregulation of NF-κB and reduces IR-induced tumor invasiveness by directly inhibiting MMP-2/-9 in CRC cells. Therefore, the use of FUT175 during radiotherapy might improve the efficacy of radiotherapy in patients with CRC.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1045
Author(s):  
Michał Burdukiewicz ◽  
Katarzyna Sidorczuk ◽  
Dominik Rafacz ◽  
Filip Pietluch ◽  
Mateusz Bąkała ◽  
...  

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) constitute a diverse group of bioactive molecules that provide multicellular organisms with protection against microorganisms, and microorganisms with weaponry for competition. Some AMPs can target cancer cells; thus, they are called anticancer peptides (ACPs). Due to their small size, positive charge, hydrophobicity and amphipathicity, AMPs and ACPs interact with negatively charged components of biological membranes. AMPs preferentially permeabilize microbial membranes, but ACPs additionally target mitochondrial and plasma membranes of cancer cells. The preference towards mitochondrial membranes is explained by their membrane potential, membrane composition resulting from α-proteobacterial origin and the fact that mitochondrial targeting signals could have evolved from AMPs. Taking into account the therapeutic potential of ACPs and millions of deaths due to cancer annually, it is of vital importance to find new cationic peptides that selectively destroy cancer cells. Therefore, to reduce the costs of experimental research, we have created a robust computational tool, CancerGram, that uses n-grams and random forests for predicting ACPs. Compared to other ACP classifiers, CancerGram is the first three-class model that effectively classifies peptides into: ACPs, AMPs and non-ACPs/non-AMPs, with AU1U amounting to 0.89 and a Kappa statistic of 0.65. CancerGram is available as a web server and R package on GitHub.


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