Jianzhang Wu

Synthesis of 2-substituted quinazolines by CsOH-mediated direct aerobic oxidative cyclocondensation of 2-aminoarylmethanols with nitriles in air

By using air as the superior oxidant, a highly atom-efficient synthesis of 2-substituted quinazolines is developed by a CsOH-mediated direct aerobic oxidative reaction of the readily available and stable 2-aminoarylmethanols and nitriles. Effectively working as the promoter in the alcohol oxidation, nitrile hydration, and cyclocondensation steps, CsOH is the best base for the reaction. A similar method can also be extended to the synthesis of substituted quinolines starting from methyl ketones instead of nitriles.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of asymmetric EF24 analogues as potential anti-cancer agents for lung cancer

The nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway has been targeted for the therapy of various cancers, including lung cancer. EF24 was considered as a potent inhibitor of NF-κB signaling pathway. In this study, a series of asymmetric EF24 analogues were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-cancer activity against three lung cancer cell lines (A549, LLC, H1650). Most of the compounds exhibited good anti-tumor activity. Among them, compound 81 showed greater cytotoxicity than EF24. Compound 81 also possessed a potent anti-migration and anti-proliferative ability against A549xa0cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, compound 81 induced lung cancer cells death by inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway, and activated the JNK-mitochondrial apoptotic pathway by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation resulting in apoptosis. In summary, compound 81 is a valuable candidate for anti-lung cancer therapy.

Novel antioxidants’ synthesis and their anti-oxidative activity through activating Nrf2 signaling pathway

Novel structure compounds (WS) containing 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl and acyl pyrazole were designed and synthesized based combination principles. Among them, WS13 was screened out to possess desirable anti-oxidative activity in vitro. Cell survival assay and apoptosis experiment in H2O2 induced PC12 cells injury model all showed that its cytoprotection exhibited a concentration-effect manner. WS13 at 10μM could remove ROS with equal effiency to edaravone. Further, it clearly activated Nrf2 nuclear translocation and upregulated GCLC mRNA transcription and protein expression in dose-dependent manner, and its cytoprotection was reversed by GCLC protein inhibitor. In total, WS13 with further promotion can serve as Nrf2-GCLC activator in anti-oxidative therapy.

Design, synthesis and QSAR study of novel isatin analogues inspired Michael acceptor as potential anticancer compounds

Molecular hybridization is considered as an effective tactic to develop drugs for the treatment of cancer. A series of novel hybrid compounds of isatin and Michael acceptor were designed and synthesized on the basis of association principle. These hybrid compounds were tested for cytotoxic potential against human cancer cell lines namely, BGC-823, SGC-7901 and NCI-H460 by MTT assay. Most compounds showed good anti-growth activities in all tested human cancer cells. SAR and QSAR analysis may provide vital information for the future development of novel anti-cancer inhibitors. Notably, compound 6a showed potent growth inhibition on BGC-823, SGC-7901 and NCI-H460 with the IC50 values of 3.6u202f±u202f0.6, 5.7u202f±u202f1.2, 3.2u202f±u202f0.7u202fμM, respectively. Besides, colony formation assays, wound healing assays and flow cytometry analysis indicated 6a exhibited a potent anti-growth and anti-migration ability in a concentration-dependence manner through arrested cells in the G2/M phase of cell cycle. Moreover, 6a significantly repressed tumor growth in a NCI-H460 xenograft mouse model. Overall, our findings suggested isatin analogues inspired Michael acceptor may provide promising lead compounds for the development of cancer chemotherapeutics.

A novel double carbonyl analog of curcumin induces the apoptosis of human lung cancer H460 cells via the activation of the endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling pathway

Curcumin can inhibit the growth of a variety of cancer cells; however, its poor bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profiles, which are attributed to its instability under physiological conditions, have limited its application in anticancer therapy. In the present study, we screened a double carbonyl analog of curcumin (A17) and analyzed its effects and mechanism of inducing apoptosis in human lung cancer H460 cells. The results showed that A17 not only induced CHOP expression in human lung cancer H460 cells, but also induced the apoptosis of H460 cells in a dose-responsive manner, and this effect was related to corresponding activation of some important components in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis pathway. When CHOP was knocked down by specific siRNA, A17-induced cell apoptosis was attenuated, thereby further demonstrating that the apoptotic pathway is ER stress‑dependent. Our studies demonstrated that A17 has better stability and antitumor activity than curcumin in H460 cells via an ER stress-mediated mechanism. These results imply that A17 could be further explored as a potential anticancer agent for the treatment of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Synthesis and evaluation of asymmetric curcuminoid analogs as potential anticancer agents that downregulate NF-κB activation and enhance the sensitivity of gastric cancer cell lines to irinotecan chemotherapy

NF-κB is a critical target for cancer treatment due to its central role in facilitating cancer progression and desensitizing cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. In this study, a series of chemically modified asymmetric curcuminoid analogs named S01-S15 were synthesized and evaluated for NF-κB inhibitory activity in gastric cancer cell lines. Cell growth inhibition assays revealed that most of these analogs effectively inhibited the growth of BGC-823, SGC-7901, and MFC cells. S06 was selected for further research. MTT assay, clonogenic assay, Hoechst 33258 staining assay, and western blotting revealed that S06 could exert anti-gastric cancer effects by downregulating NF-κB activity. Moreover, via its effects on NF-κB, S06 effectively enhanced the sensitivity of the gastric cancer cells to irinotecan. Together, this study provide a series of new curcuminoid analogs as promising cancer therapeutic agents.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of NDGA analogues as potential anti-ischemic stroke agents

Exogenous supplementation of antioxidants with ROS scavenging activity would be a potential therapy to cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in stroke. In the present study, a series of NDGA analogues with attenuation oxidative stress by directly scavenging ROS and indirectly through keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway activation were designed and synthesized. All analogues were found to effectively remove ROS directly by DPPH radical scavenging assay, and compound 3a conferred potent protection from the oxidative injury in PC12xa0cells via promoting Nrf2 to translocate into nucleus and increasing expression of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1), where strongly reduced intracellular ROS level indirectly. More importantly, 3a significantly reduced brain infarction after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Overall, our findings shown compound 3a could serve as a promising compound for the treatment of stroke.

Design, synthesis, anti-lung cancer activity, and chemosensitization of tumor-selective MCACs based on ROS-mediated JNK pathway activation and NF-κB pathway inhibition

EF24 and F35 both were effective monocarbonyl curcumin analogues (MCACs) with excellent anti-tumor activity, however, drug defect such as toxicity may limit their further development. To get anti-lung cancer drugs with high efficiency, low toxicity and chemosensitization, a series of analogues based on EF24 and F35 were designed and synthesized. A number of compounds were found to exhibit cytotoxic activities selectively towards lung cancer cells compared to normal cells. Among these compounds, 5B was considered as an optimal anti-tumor agent for lung cancer cells with IC50 values ranging from 1.0 to 1.7u202fμM, selectivity index (SI, as a logarithm of a ratio of IC50 value for normal and cancer cells) were all above 1.1, while the SI of EF24 and F35 were less than 0.8. Consistent with selectivity inxa0vitro, 5B was observed to show lower toxicity in acute toxicity experiment than EF24 and F35 respectively. Further, 5B was found to exert anti-tumor effects through ROS-mediated activation of JNK pathway and inhibition of NF-κB pathway. 5B could significantly enhance the sensitivity of A549u202fcells to cisplatin or 5-Fu. These findings suggested that 5B was an effective and less toxic MCAC and provided a promising candidate for anti-tumor drugs.

The synthesis and anti-tumor activity of EF24 analogues as IKKβ inhibitors

EF24 is an IKKβ inhibitor (IC50: 72xa0μM) containing various anti-tumor activities. In this study, a series of EF24 analogs targeting IKKβ were designed and synthesized. Several IKKβ inhibitors with better activities than EF24 were screened out and B3 showed best IKKβ inhibitory (IC50: 6.6xa0μM). Molecular docking and dynamic simulation experiments further confirmed this inhibitory effect. B3 obviously suppressed the viability of Hela229, A549, SGC-7901 and MGC-803xa0cells. Then, in SGC-7901 and MGC-803xa0cells, B3 blocked the NF-κB signal pathway by inhibiting IKKβ phosphorylation, and followed arrested the cell cycle at G2/M phase by suppressing the Cyclin B1 and Cdc2 p34 expression, induced the cell apoptosis by down-regulating Bcl-2 protein and up-regulating cleaved-caspase3. Moreover, B3 significantly reduced tumor growth and suppressed the IKKβ-NF-κB signal pathway in SGC-7901 xenograft model. In total, this study present a potential IKKβ inhibitor as anti-tumor precursor.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, QSAR and molecular dynamics simulation studies of potential fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 inhibitors for the treatment of gastric cancer

Accumulating evidence suggests that fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) is an attractive target in gastric cancer therapy. Based on our previous discovery of two non-ATP competitive FGFR1 inhibitors, A114 and A117, we designed and screened a series of compounds with the framework of bisaryl-1,4-dien-3-one. Among them, D12 and D15 exhibited the most potent FGFR1 inhibitory activity, which was ATP-independent. Furthermore, a quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis of 41 analogs demonstrated that the specific structural substitutions alter their bioactivities. Molecular docking and dynamics simulation analysis indicated the hydrophobic interaction at the FGFR1-D12/D15 interaction was dominant. Evaluation for anti-gastric cancer efficacy of D12 and D15 indicated effective inhibition of cell proliferation, apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest. Thus, these two FGFR1 inhibitors have therapeutic potential in the treatment of gastric cancer, and this study provides will contribute to the rational design of novel non-ATP competitive FGFR1 inhibitors.