Synthesis and in vitro cytotoxic activity of dye-linker-macrocycle conjugates with variable linker length and components.

The study investigated the structure-activity relationship of newly synthesized dye-linker-macrocycle (DLM) conjugates and the effect of each component on various biological properties, including cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, intracellular localization, interaction with DNA and photodynamic effects. The conjugates were synthesized by combining 1,8-naphthalimide and thioxanthone dyes with 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen) and 1-aza-12-crown-4 (1A12C4) using alkyl linkers of different lengths. The results revealed significant differences in biological activity among the various series of conjugates. Particularly, 1A12C4 conjugates exhibited notably higher cytotoxicity compared to cyclen conjugates. Conjugation with 1A12C4 proved to be an effective strategy for increasing cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of small-molecule conjugates. In addition, the results highlighted the critical role of linker length in modulating the biological activity of DLM conjugates. It became clear that the choice of each component (dye, macrocycle and linker) could significantly alter the biological activity of the conjugates.

Cytotoxic effects of halophilic archaea metabolites on ovarian cancer cell lines.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is one of the most frequent and deadly gynaecological cancers, often resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy, the current standard of care. Halophilic microorganisms have been shown to produce a large variety of metabolites, some of which show toxicity to various cancer cell lines. However, none have yet been shown to be active against ovarian cancer cells. Here, we examined the effects of metabolites secreted by the halophilic archaea Halorhabdus rudnickae and Natrinema salaciae on various cancer cell lines, including ovarian cancer cell lines. RESULTS: 1H NMR analyses of Hrd. rudnickae and Nnm. salaciae culture supernatants contain a complex mixture of metabolites that differ between species, and even between two different strains of the same species, such as Hrd. rudnickae strains 64T and 66. By using the MTT and the xCELLigence RTCA assays, we found that the secreted metabolites of all three halophilic strains expressed cytotoxicity to the ovarian cancer cell lines, especially A2780, as well as its cisplatin-resistant derivative A2780cis, in a dose-dependent manner. The other tested cell lines A549, HepG2, SK-OV-3 and HeLa were only minimally, or not at all affected by the archaeal metabolites, and this was only seen with the MTT assay. CONCLUSIONS: The halophilic archaea Hrd. rudnickae and Nnm. salaciae, isolated from a Polish salt mine and Lake Medee in the Mediterranean Sea, respectively, secrete metabolites that are active against ovarian cancer cells, including those that are resistant to cisplatin. This opens potential new possibilities for the treatment of these frequent and deadly gynaecological cancers.

Carboranyl-1,8-naphthalimide intercalators induce lysosomal membrane permeabilization and ferroptosis in cancer cell lines.

The synthesis of carborane-1,8-naphthalimide conjugates and evaluation of their DNA-binding ability and anticancer activity were performed. A series of 4-carboranyl-3-nitro-1,8-naphthalimide derivatives, mitonafide and pinafide analogs, were synthesised via amidation and reductive amination reactions, and their calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA)-binding properties were investigated using circular dichroism, UV-vis spectroscopy, and thermal denaturation. Results showed that conjugates 34-37 interacted very strongly with ct-DNA (ΔTm = 10.00-13.00 °C), indicating their ability to intercalate with DNA, but did not inhibit the activity of topoisomerase II. The conjugates inhibited the cell growth of the HepG2 cancer cell line in vitro. The same compounds caused the G2M phase arrest. Cell lines treated with these conjugates showed an increase in reactive oxygen species, glutathione, and Fe2+ levels, lipid peroxidation, and mitochondrial membrane potential relative to controls, indicating the involvement of ferroptosis. Furthermore, these conjugates caused lysosomal membrane permeabilization in HepG2 cells but not in MRC-5 cells.

Design of DNA Intercalators Based on 4-Carboranyl-1,8-Naphthalimides: Investigation of Their DNA-Binding Ability and Anticancer Activity.

In the present study, we continue our work related to the synthesis of 1,8-naphthalimide and carborane conjugates and the investigation of their anticancer activity and DNA-binding ability. For this purpose, a series of 4-carboranyl-1,8-naphthalimide derivatives, mitonafide, and pinafide analogs were synthesized using click chemistry, reductive amination, amidation, and Mitsunobu reactions. The calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA)-binding properties of the synthesized compounds were investigated by circular dichroism (CD), UV-vis spectroscopy, and thermal denaturation experiments. Conjugates 54-61 interacted very strongly with ct-DNA (∆Tm = 7.67-12.33 °C), suggesting their intercalation with DNA. They were also investigated for their in vitro effects on cytotoxicity, cell migration, cell death, cell cycle, and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a HepG2 cancer cell line as well as inhibition of topoisomerase IIα activity (Topo II). The cytotoxicity of these eight conjugates was in the range of 3.12-30.87 µM, with the lowest IC50 value determined for compound 57. The analyses showed that most of the conjugates could induce cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase, inhibit cell migration, and promote apoptosis. Two conjugates, namely 60 and 61, induced ROS production, which was proven by the increased level of 2'-deoxy-8-oxoguanosine in DNA. They were specifically located in lysosomes, and because of their excellent fluorescent properties, they could be easily detected within the cells. They were also found to be weak Topo II inhibitors.

Nematicidal activity of naphthalimide-boron cluster conjugates.

This study presents the activity of a series of 1,8-naphthalimide-carborane/metallacarborane conjugates against Rhabditis sp. The carborane conjugates were the least active. Selected conjugates with cobaltacarborane (5 and 6) showed high activity. Their lethal concentration (LC50) values are substantially lower than that of the drug mebendazole.

Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Novel 3-Carboranyl-1,8-Naphthalimide Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents.

We synthesized a series of novel 3-carboranyl-1,8-naphthalimide derivatives, mitonafide and pinafide analogs, using click chemistry, reductive amination and amidation reactions and investigated their in vitro effects on cytotoxicity, cell death, cell cycle, and the production of reactive oxygen species in a HepG2 cancer cell line. The analyses showed that modified naphthalic anhydrides and naphthalimides bearing ortho- or meta-carboranes exhibited diversified activity. Naphthalimides were more cytotoxic than naphthalic anhydrides, with the highest IC50 value determined for compound 9 (3.10 µM). These compounds were capable of inducing cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 or G2M phase and promoting apoptosis, autophagy or ferroptosis. The most promising conjugate 35 caused strong apoptosis and induced ROS production, which was proven by the increased level of 2'-deoxy-8-oxoguanosine in DNA. The tested conjugates were found to be weak topoisomerase II inhibitors and classical DNA intercalators. Compounds 33, 34, and 36 fluorescently stained lysosomes in HepG2 cells. Additionally, we performed a similarity-based assessment of the property profile of the conjugates using the principal component analysis. The creation of an inhibitory profile and descriptor-based plane allowed forming a structure-activity landscape. Finally, a ligand-based comparative molecular field analysis was carried out to specify the (un)favorable structural modifications (pharmacophoric pattern) that are potentially important for the quantitative structure-activity relationship modeling of the carborane-naphthalimide conjugates.

PPE51 Is Involved in the Uptake of Disaccharides by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

We have recently found that selected thio-disaccharides possess bactericidal effects against Mycobacterium tuberculosis but not against Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus. Here, we selected spontaneous mutants displaying resistance against the investigated thio-glycoside. According to next-generation sequencing, four of six analyzed mutants which were resistant to high concentrations of the tested chemical carried nonsynonymous mutations in the gene encoding the PPE51 protein. The complementation of these mutants with an intact ppe51 gene returned their sensitivity to the wild-type level. The uptake of tritiated thio-glycoside was significantly more abundant in wild-type Mycobacterium tuberculosis compared to the strain carrying the mutated ppe51 gene. The ppe51 mutations or CRISPR-Cas9-mediated downregulation of PPE51 expression affected the growth of mutant strains on minimal media supplemented with disaccharides (maltose or lactose) but not with glycerol or glucose as the sole carbon and energy source. Taking the above into account, we postulate that PPE51 participates in the uptake of disaccharides by tubercle bacilli.

(1-4)-Thiodisaccharides as anticancer agents. Part 5. Evaluation of anticancer activity and investigation of mechanism of action.

(1-4)-Thiodisaccharides, thiosugars with the 1-4-thio bridge, were recently shown to induce oxidative stress, as well as, apoptosis in cancer cells in the low micromolar range; however, the detailed mechanism of their anticancer action still remains unknown. In order to clarify the mechanism of (1-4)- thiodisaccharides action, we performed a series of tests including cytotoxic, clonogenic and apoptosis assays using an in vitro glioma cancer model with one ATCC cell line U87 and two novel glioma cell lines derived from cancer patients - H6PX and H7PX. We also evaluated the ability of (1-4)-thiodisaccharides to interfere with protein folding and synthesis processes, as well as, the thioredoxin system. (1-4)-thiodisaccharides induced glioma cell death, which were found to be accompanied with endoplasmic reticulum stress, inhibition of global protein synthesis, reduced overall cellular thiol level and thioredoxin reductase activity. We also performed a RT-PCR and Elisa analysis of (1-4)-thiodisaccharides-treated glioma cells to identify any changes within the pathway affected by (1-4)-thiodisaccharides. We observed a significant increase of expression in key markers of endoplasmic reticulum stress and pro-apoptotic protein, FASLG. We proposed that (1-4)-thiodisaccharides react with cellular thiols and disturb any cellular thiol-depended processes like thioredoxin system or protein folding.

Synthesis of naphthalimide-carborane and metallacarborane conjugates: Anticancer activity, DNA binding ability.

The development of 1,8-naphthalimide derivatives as DNA-targeting anticancer agents is a rapidly growing area and has resulted in several derivatives entering into clinical trials. One of original recent developments is the use of boron clusters: carboranes and metallacarboranes in the design of pharmacologically active molecules. In this direction several naphthalimide-carborane and metallacarborane conjugates were synthesized in the present study. Their effect on a cancer cell line - cytotoxicity, type of cell death, cell cycle, and ROS production were investigated. The tested conjugates revealed different activities than the leading members of the naphthalimides family, namely mitonafide and pinafide. These derivatives could induce G0/G1 arrest and promote mainly apoptosis in HepG2 cell line. Our investigations demonstrated that the most promising molecule is N-{[2-(3,3'-commo-bis(1,2-dicarba-3-cobalta(III)-closo-dodecaborate-1-yl)ethyl]-1'-aminoethyl)}-1,8-naphthalimide] (17). It was shown that 17 exhibited cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells, activated cell apoptosis, and caused cell cycle arrest in HepG2 cells. Further investigations in HepG2 cells revealed that compound 17 can also induce ROS generation, particularly mitochondrial ROS (mtROS), which was also proved by increased 8-oxo-dG level in DNA. Additionally to biological assays the interaction of the new compounds with ct-DNA was studied by CD spectra and melting temperature, thus demonstrating that these compounds were rather weak classical DNA intercalators.

Naphthalimides Selectively Inhibit the Activity of Bacterial, Replicative DNA Ligases and Display Bactericidal Effects against Tubercle Bacilli.

The DNA ligases, enzymes that seal breaks in the backbones of DNA, are essential for all organisms, however bacterial ligases essential for DNA replication use ß-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide as their co-factor, whereas those that are essential in eukaryotes and viruses use adenosine-5'-triphosphate. This fact leads to the conclusion that NAD⁺-dependent DNA ligases in bacteria could be targeted by their co-factor specific inhibitors. The development of novel alternative medical strategies, including new drugs, are a top priority focus areas for tuberculosis research due to an increase in the number of multi-drug resistant as well as totally drug resistant tubercle bacilli strains. Here, through the use of a virtual high-throughput screen and manual inspection of the top 200 records, 23 compounds were selected for in vitro studies. The selected compounds were evaluated in respect to their Mycobacterium tuberculosis NAD⁺ DNA ligase inhibitory effect by a newly developed assay based on Genetic Analyzer 3500 Sequencer. The most effective agents (e.g., pinafide, mitonafide) inhibited the activity of M. tuberculosis NAD⁺-dependent DNA ligase A at concentrations of 50 µM. At the same time, the ATP-dependent (phage) DNA LigT4 was unaffected by the agents at concentrations up to 2 mM. The selected compounds appeared to also be active against actively growing tubercle bacilli in concentrations as low as 15 µM.