Recent Advances in the Development of Antineoplastic Agents Derived from Natural Products.

Through years of evolutionary selection pressures, organisms have developed potent toxins that coincidentally have marked antineoplastic activity. These natural products have been vital for the development of multiagent treatment regimens currently employed in cancer chemotherapy, and are used in the treatment of a variety of malignancies. Therefore, this review catalogs recent advances in natural product-based drug discovery via the examination of mechanisms of action and available clinical data to highlight the utility of these novel compounds in the burgeoning age of precision medicine. The review also highlights the recent development of antibody-drug conjugates and other immunotoxins, which are capable of delivering highly cytotoxic agents previously deemed too toxic to elicit therapeutic benefit preferentially to neoplastic cells. Finally, the review examines natural products not currently used in the clinic that have novel mechanisms of action, and may serve to supplement current chemotherapeutic protocols.

In Vivo Anti-tumor Effects of the Ethanol Extract of Gleditsia sinensis Thorns and Its Active Constituent, Cytochalasin H.

Angiogenesis is the process of new vessel formation from pre-existing blood vasculature and is critical for continuous tumor growth. We previously reported that an ethanolic extract of Gleditsia sinensis thorns (EEGS) and its active constituent, cytochalasin H, have anti-angiogenic activity in vitro and in vivo via suppression of endothelial cell functions. In the present study, EEGS and cytochalasin H were observed to efficiently inhibit tumor growth in an in ovo xenograft model without significant toxicity. We repeatedly observed the anti-tumor and anti-metastatic effects of EEGS in representative animal models. These results suggest that EEGS and its active constituent, cytochalasin H, are potential candidates for the development of anti-angiogenic cancer drugs.

Exploiting the cytoskeletal filaments of neoplastic cells to potentiate a novel therapeutic approach.

Although cytoskeletal-directed agents have been a mainstay in chemotherapeutic protocols due to their ability to readily interfere with the rapid mitotic progression of neoplastic cells, they are all microtubule-based drugs, and there has yet to be any microfilament- or intermediate filament-directed agents approved for clinical use. There are many inherent differences between the cytoskeletal networks of malignant and normal cells, providing an ideal target to attain preferential damage. Further, numerous microfilament-directed agents, and an intermediate filament-directed agent of particular interest (withaferin A) have demonstrated in vitro and in vivo efficacy, suggesting that cytoskeletal filaments may be exploited to supplement chemotherapeutic approaches currently used in the clinical setting. Therefore, this review is intended to expose academics and clinicians to the tremendous variety of cytoskeletal filament-directed agents that are currently available for further chemotherapeutic evaluation. The mechanisms by which microfilament directed- and intermediate filament-directed agents damage malignant cells are discussed in detail in order to establish how the drugs can be used in combination with each other, or with currently approved chemotherapeutic agents to generate a substantial synergistic attack, potentially establishing a new paradigm of chemotherapeutic agents.

Trichalasins C and D from the plant endophytic fungus Trichoderma gamsii.

Two new cytochalasans, trichalasins C (1) and D (2) together with known cytochalasans aspochalasins D (3), M (4) and P (5) were isolated from one endophytic fungus Trichoderma gamsii inhabiting in traditional medicinal plant Panax notoginseng (BurK.) F.H.Chen. The structures for the new compounds 1 and 2 were determined by NMR and HRESIMS, and their relative configurations were established by analysis of coupling constants and NOESY correlations. Compound 3 displaying inhibitory activity with EC50 value 5.72 µM, whereas the EC50 values for compounds 1, 2 and 4, 5 are more than 40 µM.

Metabolites of the mangrove fungus Xylaria sp. BL321 from the South China Sea.

Two new lactones, 1 and 2, together with five known compounds, 3-7, were isolated from the marine mangrove fungus Xylaria sp. BL321. Their structures were determined by comprehensive analysis of their MS and NMR spectroscopic data. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were established on the basis of electronic circular dichroism calculations. It was found that the exocyclic double bond of 1 rearranged into a cyclic double bond to form a new crystal compound (1a) in diluted NaOH solution. Compound 3 was isolated for the first time as a natural product; its absolute configuration was determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Compounds 4-7 displayed cytotoxicity against human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-435, while compounds 1- 3 were inactive (IC(50) > 50 µM).

Antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of geldanamycin, cytochalasin E, suramin and thiacetazone in human prostate xenograft tumor histocultures.

PURPOSE: We have shown that the three human prostate xenograft tumors, i.e. the androgen-dependent CWR22 tumor, and the androgen-resistant CWR22R and CWR91 tumors, are comparable to patient tumors in their expression of prostate specific antigen, multidrug resistance p-glycoprotein, p53 and Bcl-2 and in their sensitivity to doxorubicin and paclitaxel. The present study used histocultures of these xenograft tumors to evaluate the antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of several drugs (geldanamycin, cytochalasin E and thiacetazone), which have diverse action mechanisms and have shown activity against primary cultures of human prostate cancer cells. Suramin, a clinically active compound was included for comparison. Methods. The antiproliferative effect of 96 h drug treatment was measured by inhibition of DNA precursor incorporation, and the cytotoxic or cell kill effect was measured by in situ DNA end labeling of apoptotic and necrotic cells and by reduction of live cell density. RESULTS: The rank order of molar potency was geldanamycin > cytochalasin E > suramin > or = thiacetazone. Thiacetazone produced antiproliferation only in CWR22 tumor and had no cytotoxicity, whereas the other three drugs produced both antiproliferation and cytotoxicity in all three tumors. Geldanamycin, but not cytochalasin E and suramin, showed greater antiproliferation and cytotoxicity in tumor cells compared to normal stromal cells. The two androgen-resistant tumors were 4 to >40-fold less sensitive than the androgen-dependent tumor to drug-induced antiproliferation but were about equally or 4 to >20-fold more sensitive to drug-induced cytotoxicity. The ratios of drug concentrations that produced 50% antiproliferation to the concentrations that produced 50% cytotoxicity ranged from <0.04 to 0.3 in CWR22 tumor, but ranged from 0.3 to 2.7 in CWR22R and CWR91 tumors, indicating a shift from antiproliferation as the predominant drug effect in the androgen-dependent tumor to cytotoxicity in the androgen-resistant tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate (a) differential drug effects in human prostate xenograft tumors with antiproliferation and cytotoxicity as the predominant drug effect in the androgen-dependent and androgen-resistant tumors, respectively, (b) that progression of tumors from androgen-dependent state to androgen-resistant state appears to be associated with a lower sensitivity to drug-induced antiproliferation and an equal or greater sensitivity to drug-induced cytotoxicity, and (c) that geldanamycin but not thiacetazone warrants further development.

Acceleration of peritoneal solute transport by cytochalasin D.

Because cytochalasin D affects intercellular junctions the effect of this agent on peritoneal transport was investigated in normal rabbits. Using commercially available dialysis solution, short-term control peritoneal dialyses were compared in the same animals to dialyses in which cytochalasin D was added intraperitoneally. A dose (325-920 micrograms/kg) dependent increase in peritoneal clearances of urea (49% increment at high dose) and of creatinine (67% increment) occurred when cytochalasin D was added. When solute transport was highest at the maximal dose, osmotically induced ultrafiltration decreased significantly to 33% of control values. Cytochalasin D induces aberrations in solute transport that resemble those accompanying and occasionally following peritonitis.