Synthesis of 5-Alkynyltetrandrine Derivatives and Evaluation of their Anticancer Activity on A549 Cell Lines

Author(s):

Nana Niu, Tingli Qu, Jinfang Xu, Xiaolin Lu, Graham J. Bodwell* and Zhengbao Zhao*   Pages 1454 - 1462 ( 9 )

Abstract:

<P>Background: Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent malignancies and thus the development of novel therapeutic agents for managing lung cancer is imperative. Tetrandrine, a bis-benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from Stephania tetrandra S. Moore, has been found to exert cytotoxic effects on cancerous cells. </P><P> Methods: A series of 5-alkynyltetrandrine derivatives was synthesized via the Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions and evaluated as potential anti-tumor agents. The anti-tumor activities of 12 compounds on lung cancer cells (A549) were evaluated using the MTT method. The population of apoptotic cells was measured using a TUNEL assay. Real-time PCR quantified the gene expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, survivin and caspase-3. The content of Cyt-C was detected using a Human Cyt-C ELISA kit. </P><P> Results: Most of these compounds exhibited better activities than tetrandrine itself on A549 cells. Among them, compound 7 showed the highest cytotoxicity among the tested compounds against human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells with an IC50 of 2.94 &#181;M. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicated that compound 7 induced apoptosis of human lung cancer A549 cells and increased the level of the proapoptotic gene Bax, release of Cyt-C from mitochondria and activation of caspase-3 genes. </P><P> Conclusion: The results suggest that compound 7 exerts its antitumor activity against A549 cells through the induction of the intrinsic (mitochondrial) apoptotic pathway. These findings will contribute to the future design of more effective anti-tumor agents in lung cancer therapy.</P>

Keywords:

Tetrandrine, Sonogashira coupling, A549 cells, anti-tumor activity, MTT, apoptosis.

Affiliation:

School of Pharmaceutical Science, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, School of Pharmaceutical Science, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, School of Pharmaceutical Science, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, School of Pharmaceutical Science, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, A1B 3X7, School of Pharmaceutical Science, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001

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