Synthesis of Sulfonylated Lactams by Copper-Mediated Aminosulfonylation of 2-Vinylbenzamides with Sodium Sulfinates.

Treatment of 2-vinylbenzamide derivatives with sulfinate sodium in the presence of Cu(NO3)2·3H2O led to an intra/intermolecular aminosulfonylation reaction to produce sulfonylated lactams in moderate to good yields. The developed method features the easily available and stable sulfone reagents, ease of operation, and a broad functional group tolerance.

DCLK1 is correlated with MET and ERK5 expression, and associated with prognosis in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive cancer for which more effective treatments are needed. In this study, strong to moderate staining of MET and ERK5 was detected in 67.1 and 48% of the analyzed 73 human mesothelioma tumors, and significant correlation of MET and ERK5 expression was identified (P<0.05). We evaluated the doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) expression in human mesothelioma tumors. Our results showed that 50.7% of the immunohistochemistry analyzed human mesothelioma tumors have strong to moderate staining of DCLK1, and its expression is significantly correlated with MET or ERK5 expression (P<0.05). Also, the upregulation of DCLK1 is correlated with poor prognosis in MPM patients (P=0.0235). To investigate whether DCLK1 is downstream of MET/ERK5 signaling in human mesothelioma, the effect of DCLK1 expression was analyzed after treatments with either the MET inhibitor XL184 or the ERK5 inhibitor XMD8-92 in human mesothelioma cell lines. Our results showed that the MET inhibitor XL184 reduced the expression of phospho­ERK5 and DCLK1 expression in human mesothelioma cell lines. In addition, the ERK5 inhibitor XMD8-92 reduced the expression of phospho-ERK5 and DCLK1 expression in human mesothelioma cell lines. Furthermore, XML184 and XMD8-92 treatment impaired invasion and tumor sphere formation ability of H290 mesothelioma cells. These results suggest that DCLK1 is regulated by MET/ERK5 signaling in human mesothelioma, and the MET/ERK5/DCLK1 signaling cascade could be further developed into a promising therapeutic target against mesothelioma.

Targeting YAP in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that is resistant to current therapy. The poor prognosis of mesothelioma has been associated with elevated Yes-associated protein (YAP) activity. In this study, we evaluated the effect of targeting YAP in mesothelioma. First, we comprehensively studied YAP activity in five mesothelioma cell lines (211H, H2052, H290, MS-1 and H2452) and one normal mesothelial cell line (LP9). We found decreased phospho-YAP to YAP protein ratio and consistently increased GTIIC reporter activity in 211H, H2052 and H290 compared to LP9. The same three cell lines (IC50 s < 1 µM) were more sensitive than LP9 (IC50 = 3.5 µM) to the YAP/TEAD inhibitor verteporfin. We also found that verteporfin significantly reduced YAP protein level, mRNA levels of YAP downstream genes and GTIIC reporter activity in the same three cell lines, indicating inhibition of YAP signaling by verteporfin. Verteporfin also impaired invasion and tumoursphere formation ability of H2052 and H290. To validate the effect of specific targeting YAP in mesothelioma cells, we down-regulated YAP by siRNA. We found siYAP significantly decreased YAP transcriptional activity and impaired invasion and tumoursphere formation ability of H2052 and H290. Furthermore, forced overexpression of YAP rescued GTIIC reporter activity and cell viability after siYAP targeting 3'UTR of YAP. Finally, we found concurrent immunohistochemistry staining of ROCK2 and YAP (P < 0.05). Inhibition of ROCK2 decreased GTIIC reporter activity in H2052 and 211H suggesting that Rho/ROCK signaling also contributed to YAP activation in mesothelioma cells. Our results indicate that YAP may be a potential therapeutic target in mesothelioma.

Anti-malarial activity of geldanamycin derivatives in mice infected with Plasmodium yoelii.

BACKGROUND: Geldanamycin (GA), a benzoquinone ansamycin antibiotic has been shown in vitro to possess anti-plasmodial activity. Pharmacological activity of this drug is attributed to its ability to inhibit PfHSP90. The parasite growth arrest has been shown to be due to drug-induced blockage of the transition from ring to trophozoite stage. To further evaluate the consequences of this pharmacodynamic feature, the anti-malarial activity of GA analogs with enhanced drug properties in a Plasmodium-infected animal model have been evaluated for their capacity to induce clearance of the parasite. In the process, a hypothesis was subsequently tested regarding the susceptibility of the cured animals to malaria reflected in an attenuated parasite load that may be evoked by a protective immune response in the host. METHODS: Six weeks old Swiss mice were infected with a lethal Plasmodium yoelii (17XL) strain. On appearance of clinical symptoms of malaria, these animals were treated with two different GA derivatives and the parasite load was monitored over 15-16 days. Drug-treated animals cured of the parasite were then re-challenged with a lethal dose of P. yoelii 17XL. Serum samples from GA cured mice that were re-challenged with P. yoelii 17XL were examined for the presence of antibodies against the parasite proteins using western blot analysis. RESULTS: Treatment of P. yoelii 17XL infected mice with GA derivatives showed slow recovery from clinical symptoms of the disease. Blood smears from drug treated mice indicated a dominance of ring stage parasites when compared to controls. Although, P. yoelii preferentially invades normocytes (mature rbcs), in drug-treated animals there was an increased invasion of reticulocytes. Cured animals exhibited robust protection against subsequent infection and serum samples from these animals showed antibodies against a vast majority of parasite proteins. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with GA derivatives blocked the transition from ring to trophozoite stage presumably by the inhibition of HSP90 associated functions. Persistence of parasite in ring stage leads to robust humoral immune response as well as a shift in invasion specificity from normocytes to reticulocyte. It is likely that the treatment with the water-soluble GA derivative creates an attenuated state (less virulent with altered invasion specificity) that persists in the host system, allowing it to mount a robust immune response.

Novel peptide derivatives of bleomycin A5: synthesis, antitumor activity and interaction with DNA.

A series of novel amino acid and peptide derivatives of bleomycin (BLM) A(5) were synthesized. All the compounds possessed significant antitumor activities in vitro against HL-60, BGC-823, PC-3MIE8, and MDA-MB-435 cell lines. Their antitumor activities against MDA-MB-435 were 10-fold higher than BLM A5. The DNA cleavage studies indicated that the hydrophobic amino acid or peptide derivatives of BLM A5 could induce higher cleavage ratio of double to single strand DNA than BLM A5. From the DNA binding studies, we found that the derivatives containing either D-conformation amino acid or basic amino acid could facilitate DNA binding of BLM.

Synthesis, biological evaluation and DNA binding properties of novel bleomycin analogues.

A series of bleomycin analogues was prepared with a facile synthetic method. All the compounds were shown to display significant antitumor activity against HeLa and BGC-823 cell lines in vitro. The binding properties with CT-DNA and cleavage efficiency to pBR322 DNA were investigated, the results indicate that there is a positive relationship between DNA cleavage efficiency and the binding affinity to DNA, and the antitumor activity of the bleomycin analogues is enhanced as the hydrophobicity of the C-terminus substituent side chain increased.

Manganese(II) complex of 6,7-dicycanodipyridoquinoxaline with antitumor activities: synthesis, crystal structure and binding with DNA.

A new Mn(II) complex with the planar ligand 6,7-dicycanodipyrido[2,2-D:2',3'-f]quinoxaline (L) [MnL(NO(3))(H(2)O)(3)]NO(3).CH(3)OH (1) has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, TG-DTA and molar conductance. Its crystal structure was determined by X-ray diffraction, crystal data: yellow, triclinic, space group P1;, Z=2, a=7.3743(8) A, b=11.2487(15) A, c=14.1655(15) A, alpha=79.412(2) degrees, beta=83.208(2) degrees, gamma=80.466(2) degrees. The Mn atom was hexa-coordinated to form a distorted octahedral geometry by two nitrogen atoms of L and four oxygen atoms of three H(2)O and NO(3)(-) in the complex. The binding mode of the complex with calf thymus DNA has also been investigated with spectrophotometric methods, viscosity and thermal denaturation measurements. The experimental results indicate that the complex intercalated into DNA base pairs via the ligand L. The intrinsic binding constant K(b) values for 1 (5.00 x 10(5) M(-1)) and L (1.65 x 10(5) M(-1)) were determined by absorption titration and calculated with the model of McGhee and Von Hippel. Biological tests against four different cell lines (HL-60, KB, Hela and BGC-823) in vitro showed that the complex had significant antitumor properties since the 50% inhibition concentrations (IC(50)) of the complex were within a microM range similar to those of antitumor drug 5-fluorouracil.

Synthesis, crystal structure, antitumor activity and DNA-binding study on the Mn(II) complex of 2H-5-hydroxy-1,2,5-oxadiazo[3,4-f]1,10-phenanthroline.

The complex [Mn(L)(NO(3))(2)(H(2)O)(2)] (1) (L=2H-5-hydroxy-1,2,5-oxadiazo[3,4-f]1,10-phenanthroline) was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and UV. The crystal and molecular structure of 1 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction; crystal data: light yellow, monoclinic, space group P2(1)/n, Z=4, a=7.432(2) A, b=9.582(3) A, c=23.445(7) A, beta=90.519(5) degrees. The Mn atom in 1 is hexa-coordinated in a distorted octahedral arrangement by two N atoms of the ligand L and four O atoms of two water molecules and two nitrate anions. Biological tests in vitro showed that 1 has significant antitumor activity against HL-60, KB, Hela and BGC-823 cells. The interaction of 1 with calf thymus DNA was investigated by absorption titration, thermal denaturation and viscosity measurements. The results suggest that 1 binds with DNA by intercalating via the ligand L.