Ahmad Sazali Hamzah

Benzylidene derivatives of andrographolide inhibit growth of breast and colon cancer cells in vitro by inducing G1 arrest and apoptosis

Andrographolide, the major phytoconstituent of Andrographis paniculata, was previously shown by us to have activity against breast cancer. This led to synthesis of new andrographolide analogues to find compounds with better activity than the parent compound. Selected benzylidene derivatives were investigated for their mechanisms of action by studying their effects on the cell cycle progression and cell death.

Semisynthesis and cytotoxic activities of andrographolide analogues

Andrographolide 1, a diterpenoid lactone of the plant Andrographis paniculata, known to possess antitumour activity in in vitro and in vivo breast cancer models was subjected to semisynthesis leading to the preparation of a number of novel compounds. These compounds exhibited in vitro antitumour activity with moderate to excellent growth inhibition against MCF-7 (breast) and HCT-116 (colon) cancer cells. Compounds 3,19-(2-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(5), 3,19-(3-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(6), 3,19-(3-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(7), 3,19-(4-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(8), 3,19-(2-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(10), 3,19-(2-chloro-5-nitrobenzylidene)andrographolide (21), 3,19-(4-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(30) and 3,19-(2-chloro-4-fluorobenzylidene) andrographolide(31) were also screened against 60 NCI (National Cancer Institute, USA) human tumour cell lines derived from nine cancer cell types.

Triterpenoid saponins from Hedyotis nudicaulis

Abstract Three new triterpenoid saponins, nudicaucins A, B and C and a known saponin guaiacin D have been isolated from the n-butanol extract of Hedyotis nudicaulis. The structures of nudicaucins A, B and C were elucidated to be β- d -glucopyranosyl 3-O-[β- d -galactopyranosyl (1 → 3)α- l -arabinopyranosyl]-30-norolean-12,20(29)-dien-28- oate , β- d -glucopyranosyl 3-O-[β- d -galactopyranosyl (1 → 3)α- l -arabinopyranosyl]oleanoate and β- d -glucopyranosyl 3-O- [α- l -rhamnopyranosyl (1 → 2)α- l -arabinopyranosyl (3 → 1)β- d -glucopyranosyl]- oleanoate , respectively, on the basis of NMR spectroscopic analysis and comparison of the spectral data with those of known saponins.

Semisynthesis and cytotoxic activities of andrographolide analogues: Erratum The Publishers would like to apologie for an error that occured on the title page of Journal of Enzyme and Medicinal Chemistry, April 2006; 21(2): 145–155. The correct title page is below.

Andrographolide 1, a diterpenoid lactone of the plant Andrographis paniculata, known to possess antitumour activity in in vitro and in vivo breast cancer models was subjected to semisynthesis leading to the preparation of a number of novel compounds. These compounds exhibited in vitro antitumour activity with moderate to excellent growth inhibition against MCF-7 (breast) and HCT-116 (colon) cancer cells. Compounds 3,19-(2-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(5), 3,19-(3-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(6), 3,19-(3-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(7), 3,19-(4-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(8), 3,19-(2-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(10), 3,19-(2-chloro-5-nitrobenzylidene)andrographolide (21), 3,19-(4-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(30) and 3,19-(2-chloro-4-fluorobenzylidene) andrographolide(31) were also screened against 60 NCI (National Cancer Institute, USA) human tumour cell lines derived from nine cancer cell types.