Podophyllotoxin-loaded PEGylated E-selectin peptide conjugate targeted cancer site to enhance tumor inhibition and reduce side effect.

E-selectin, which is highly expressed in vascular endothelial cells near tumor and get involved in the all tumor growth steps: occurrence, proliferation and metastasis, is considered as a promise targeted protein for antitumor drug discovery. Herein, we would like to report the design, preparation and the anticancer evaluation of the peptide-PEG-podophyllotoxin conjugate(PEG-Pep-PODO), in which the short peptide (CIELLQAR) was used as the E-selectin ligand for the targeting purpose and the PEG portion the molecule got the conjugate self-assembled to form a water soluble nanoparticle. In vitro release study showed that the conjugated and entrapped PODO could be released simultaneously in the presence of GSH (highly expressed in tumor environmental conditions) and the GSH would catalyze the break of the disufur bond which linked of the PODO and the peptide-PEG portion of the conjugate. Cell adhesion test of the PEG-Pep-PODO indicated that E-selectin ligand peptide CIELLQAR could get specifically and efficiently binding to the E-selectin expressing human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). In vitro cytotoxicity assay further revealed that PEG-Pep-PODO significantly improved the selectivity of PEG-Pep-PODO for killing the tumor cells and normal cells compared with PODO solution formulation. More importantly, the in vivo experiment demonstrated that the conjugate would accumulate of the PODO payload in tumor through targeting endothelial cells in the tumor microenvironment, which resulted in the much improved in vivo inhibition of tumor growth, intratumoral microvessel density, and decreased systemic toxicity of this nanoparticle over the free PODO. Furthermore, this water soluble conjugate greatly improved the pharmacokinetic properties of the mother molecule.

Design, synthesis and anti-NASH effect evaluation of novel GFT505 derivatives in vitro and in vivo.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is emerging as the largest burden of chronic liver disease worldwide. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a progressive form of NAFLD that can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Unfortunately, current treatment options for NASH are very limited. Among the multiple pathways of NASH, peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors (PPARS) are recognized as an important and effective target. GFT 505 is a dual excitement agent for the treatment of PPAR-α/δ for the treatment of NASH. However, its activity and toxicity need to be further improved. Therefore, here we would like to report the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 11 GFT 505 derivatives. The initial cytotoxicity through proliferation activity of HepG2 cells and in vitro anti-NASH activity evaluation demonstrated that under the same concentration, the compound 3d possess significantly lower cytotoxicity and better anti-NASH activity than that of GFT 505. Moreover, Molecular docking also shows that 3d and PPAR-α/δ can form a stable hydrogen bond and have the lowest binding energy. Therefore this novel molecule 3d was selected to go further in vivo investigation. Methionine-choline deficiency (MCD) induced C57BL/6J NASH model mice was used for the in vivo biological experiments and the compound 3d demostrated lower liver toxicity than that of GFT 505 in the body at the same dose, and it did more effectively improve hyperlipidemia, liver fat degeneration and liver inflammation as well as significantly enhance the content of the GSH which is inportant for the liver protection. This study suggested that the compound 3d is a very promising lead compound for the treatment of NASH.

[Effect and mechanism of aspirin combined with vinorelbine on non-small cell lung cancer].

The study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of aspirin combined with vinorelbine on the proliferation and apoptosis of non-small cell lung cancer cells. 3-(4-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) was used to detect the cytotoxic effect of aspirin and vinorelbine on H460 and A549 cells, and half of inhibitory concentration(IC_(50)) value of drugs as well as synergistic effect were calculated. The results showed that both aspirin and vinorelbine inhibited the cancer cells proliferation by a concentration-dependent manner with IC_(50 )values of 1.553 mmol·L~(-1) and 0.033 µmol·L~(-1) in H460 cells, respectively. The IC_(50 )values of aspirin and vinorelbine were 1.70 mmol·L~(-1)and more than 20 µmol·L~(-1) in A549 cells. The combination index(CI) value was used to evaluate the combined effect of two drugs. Aspirin combined with vinorelbine had synergistic effects at the ratio of 100∶1 on H460 cells and 1∶10 on A549 cells(CI<1). Clone formation and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole(DAPI)/propidium iodide(PI) staining assays were used to verify the effect of the combination of two drugs on proliferation of H460 cells. Compared with the aspirin single group, the combination group had stronger inhibitory effect on the proliferation of H460 cells and the clone formation rate was 49.5%(P<0.05). Furthermore, apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential, reactive oxygen species and Western blot experiments were used to explore the synergistic mechanism of aspirin combined with vinorelbine in inhibiting cell proliferation. The results showed that the cancer cell apoptosis rate was 52.8%, the mitochondrial membrane potential was decreased to 33.1%, and the levels of reactive oxygen species was increased to 73.3% in combination group, which were significantly different from those of the single drug treatment groups(P<0.05). Western blot showed that combination group significantly up-regulated the expressions of Bax, p53, cleaved caspase-3 and cytochrome C, while down-regulated the expression of anti-apoptosis proteins such as Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 when compared with single groups. Our results suggested that aspirin combined with vinorelbine could synergistically inhibit the proliferation of H460 cells by inducing the cell apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway.

Synthesis and anti-cancer activity evaluation of 5-(2-carboxyethenyl)-isatin derivatives.

A series of novel di- or trisubstituted isatin derivatives were designed and synthesized in 5-6 steps in 25-45% overall yields. Their structures were confirmed by 1H NMR and 13C NMR as well as LC-MS. The anticancer activity of the fourty-three new isatin derivatives against human T lymphocyte cells Jurkat was evaluated by MTT assay in vitro. SAR study suggested that the combination of 1-benzyl and 5-[trans-2-(methoxycarbonyl)ethen-1-yl] substitution greatly enhanced their cytotoxic activity. Among them, compound 2h was shown to have a significant cytotoxic activity with an IC50 value of 0.03 µM, more than 330-fold higher than that of it's mother molecule isatin. Investigation of the cell morphology changes and annexin-V/PI staining study demonstrated that compound 2h inhibited the proliferation of Jurkat cells by inducing apoptosis. Since compound 2h induced the dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential and the activation of caspase-3, it was obvious that compound 2h inhibited the proliferation of Jurkat cells through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Other than this, compound 2h exerted inhibition effect to many other tumor cells and only showed weak cytotoxic to human normal cells suggesting that compound 2h possessed a broad range of anticancer spectrum and high safety to normal cells.

Low toxic and high soluble camptothecin derivative 2-47 effectively induces apoptosis of tumor cells in vitro.

The cytotoxic activity of camptothecin derivatives is so high that these compounds need to be further modified before their successful application as anti-cancer agents clinically. In this study, we reported the synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel camptothecin derivative called compound 2-47. The changes in structure did not reduce its activity to inhibit DNA topoisomerase I. Compound 2-47 induced apoptosis of many tumor cells including leukemia cells K562, Jurkat, HL-60, breast cancer cell BT-549, colon cancer cell HT-29 and liver cancer cell HepG2 with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 2- to 3-fold lower than HCPT as a control. In particular, 2-47 inhibited the proliferation of Jurkat cells with an IC50 of as low as 40 nM. By making use of Jurkat cell as a model, following treatment of Jurkat cells, compound 2-47 activated caspase-3 and PARP, resulting in a decreased Bcl-2/Bax ratio. These data showed that compound 2-47 induces Jurkat cell death through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In addition, compound 2-47 showed a decreased cytotoxic activity against normal cells and an improved solubility in low-polar solvent. For example, compound 2-47 solutes in CHCl3 130-fold higher than HCPT. Taken together, our data demonstrated that camptothecin derivative 2-47 notably inhibits the tumor cell proliferation through mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in vitro.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Water-Soluble Poly-(ethylene glycol)-10-hydroxycamptothecin Conjugates.

In order to improve the antitumor activity and water solubility of 10-hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT), a series of novel HCPT conjugates were designed and synthesized by conjugating polyethylene glycol (PEG) to the 10-hydroxyl group of HCPT via a valine spacer. The in vitro stability of these synthesized compounds was determined in pH 7.4 buffer at 37 °C, and the results showed that they released HCPT at different rates. All the compounds demonstrated significant antitumor activity in vitro against K562, HepG2 and HT-29 cells. Among them, compounds, 4a, 4d, 4e and 4f, exhibited 2-5 times higher potency than HCPT. The stability and antitumor activity of these conjugates were found to be closely related to the length of PEG and the linker type, conjugates with a relatively short PEG chain and carbamate linkages (compounds 4a and 4f) exhibited controlled release of HCPT and excellent antitumor in vitro activity.

Synthesis and anti-cancer activity evaluation of novel prenylated and geranylated chalcone natural products and their analogs.

Four natural chalcones bearing prenyl or geranyl groups, i.e., bavachalcone (1a), xanthoangelol (1b), isobavachalcone (1c), and isoxanthoangelol (1d) were synthesized by using a regio-selective iodination and the Suzuki coupling reaction as key steps. The first total synthesis of isoxanthoangelol (1d) was achieved in 36% overall yield. A series of diprenylated and digeranylated chalcone analogs were also synthesized by alkylation, regio-selective iodination, aldol condensation, Suzuki coupling and [1,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. The structures of the 11 new derivatives were confirmed by (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR and HRMS. The anticancer activity of these new chalcone derivatives against human tumor cell line K562 were evaluated by MTT assay in vitro. SAR studies suggested that the 5'-prenylation/geranylation of the chalcones significantly enhance their cytotoxic activity. Among them, Bavachalcone (1a) displayed the most potent cytotoxic activity against K562 with IC50 value of 2.7 µM. The morphology changes and annexin-V/PI staining studies suggested that those chalcone derivatives inhibited the proliferation of K562 cells by inducing apoptosis.

Synthesis and antitumor activity evaluation of a novel series of xanthone derivatives.

A natural xanthone, 1,3,6-trihydroxy-5-methoxyxanthone, was totally synthesized for the first time by six steps in 31% overall yield. The xanthone skeleton was formed by a one-step synthesis in 80% yield, and five of its novel derivatives were also obtained by this approach. This synthetic strategy and all the derivatives could be further used for the preparation of other natural xanthones. All the xanthones were characterized by NMR and ESI-MS, and the cytotoxicity of these xanthones was evaluated against HepG2 and HT-29 cells, and the preliminary structure-activity relationship was evaluated from the results. It was proved that the presence of 3-OH group in the molecule is crucial for its biological activity, while the presence of substituents at C-5 and C-6 may also be beneficial.

5-(2-carboxyethenyl) isatin derivative induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human leukemia K562 cells.

Our previous study successfully identified that the novel isatin derivative (E)-methyl 3-(1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-2,3-dioxoindolin-5-yl) acrylate (HKL 2H) acts as an anticancer agent at an inhibitory concentration (IC50) level of 3nM. In this study, the molecular mechanism how HKL 2H induces cytotoxic activity in the human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells was investigated. Flow cytometric analysis showed that the cells were arrested in the G2/M phase and accumulated subsequently in the sub-G1 phase in the presence of HKL 2H. HKL 2H treatment down-regulated the expressions of CDK1 and cyclin B but up-regulated the level of phosphorylated CDK1. Annexin-V staining and the classic DNA ladder studies showed that HKL 2H induced the apoptosis of K562 cells. Our study further showed that HKL 2H treatment caused the dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential, activated caspase-3 and lowered the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in K562 cells, suggesting that the HKL 2H-causing programmed cell death of K562 cells was caused via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Taken together, our data demonstrated that HKL 2H, a 5-(2-carboxyethenyl) isatin derivative, notably induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in K562 cells, indicating that this compound could be a promising anticancer candidate for further investigation.

Synthesis and antitumor activity evaluation of a novel series of camptothecin analogs.

A series of novel 10-substituted camptothecin analogs (3-10) with a carbamate linker were synthesized, and their biological activities were evaluated. The amino acid-linked carbamate derivatives (8-10) of the camptothecin-type natural product not only possessed good to excellent inhibitory activity against three human tumor cell lines K562, HepG2, and HT-29, but also showed significantly less cytotoxicity against normal human cell HEK293 (half maximal inhibiting concentration >10 µM). The selectivity of compound 9 toward tumor cells relative to normal cells is at least 250 times better than that of camptothecin. The preliminary testing result indicated that the solubility of these compounds was also improved compared to that of 10-hydroxy camptothecin.

A Shortcut to the Optimization of Cellulase Production Using the Mutant Trichoderma reesei YC-108.

Trichoderma reesei YC-108, a strain isolated by a kind of newly invented plate was found to over produce cellulase and it was then used as a cellulase producer. To get the maximum amount of cellulase, the combination of the medium ingredients, which has a profound influence on metabolic pathway was optimized using response surface methodology. The optimum composition was found to be 24.63 g/L wheat bran, 30.78 g/L avicel, and 19.16 g/L soya-bean cake powder. By using the optimized medium, the filter paper activity (FPA) increased nearly five times to 15.82 IU/mL in a 30 L stirred fermenter, carboxymethyl cellulase activity (CMCase) was increased from 83.02 to 628.05 IU/mL and the CMCase/FPA ratio was nearly doubled compared with the parent strain at initial medium.