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A total of twenty benzo[b]cyclohept[e] [1,4]oxazines and their S-analogs, and 2-aminotropone derivatives were investigated for their cytotoxicity against three human normal cells and four tumor cell lines. These compounds showed moderate tumor-specific cytotoxicity. The cytotoxicity was enhanced by bromination at the tropone ring and replacement by formylbenzene. The cytotoxicity of 2-(2-hydroxyanilino) tropone was enhanced by introduction of bromine or isopropyl group to the tropone ring. The presence of a hydroxyl group at ortho or para-position should be necessary for the appearance of cytotoxicity and tumor-specificity. The highly active derivatives, 7-bromo-2-(4-hydroxyanilino)tropone [16] and 4-isopropyl-2-(2-hydroxyanilino)tropone [20], induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and caspase-3, -8 and -9 activation in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells, but only at concentrations twice or four times higher than CC(50) values. These compounds induced no discernible DNA fragmentation, and activated caspases much more weakly in human oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2 cells. Both [16] and [20] failed to induce the production of acidic organelles, a marker of autophagy, in contrast to the nutritional starvation. These data demonstrated that 2-aminotropones showed relatively higher tumor-specificity than benzo[b]cyclohept[e] [1,4]oxazine, and that 2-aminotropones induced little or no apoptotic cell death in oral squamous cell carcinoma, in contrast to HL-60 cells.

A total of thirty-nine naphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-diones and related compounds were tested for their cytotoxicity against three human normal oral cells (gingival fibroblast, HGF, pulp cell, HPC, periodontal ligament fibroblast, HPLF) and four human tumor cell lines (oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, HSC-3, HSC-4, promyelocytic leukemia HL-60). 2-Acetylnaphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-dione [1] was highly cytotoxic to both normal and tumor cells, yielding low tumor-specificity. 2-Acetyl-4,9-dimethoxynaphtho[2,3-b]furan [4], the 2-(3-furanoyl) benzoic acids [5, 6] and the 1,4-naphthoquinones [7, 8] showed much reduced cytototoxicity and low tumor-specificity. The introduction of phenoxy [18], isopropylamino [23] or 2-methylpiperidino [33] groups to the 2-position of naphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-dione yielded compounds that showed the greatest tumor-specificity. These compounds, at twice or four times higher concentrations than CC50, induced the activation of caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 in the HSC-2 and HL-60 cells, but not so apparently in the HSC-4 cells. However, they did not induce internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in the HSC-2 and HSC-4 cells even after 24 hours incubation and only slightly induced DNA fragmentation in the HL-60 cells. Compound [18] induced the production of annexin-positive cells, but did not induce microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) accumulation in autophagosomes in LC3-green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transfected HSC-2 cells. These data suggested that naphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-diones may induce the early apoptotic marker, without induction of caspase activation and DNA fragmentation in oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis suggests the applicability of the theoretical calculations such as frontier molecular orbital, dipole moments and hydrophobicity in predicting their cytotoxic activity.

The cytotoxic activity of sodium 5,6-benzylidene-L-ascorbate (SBA) against eight human cancer cell lines and three human normal cells was investigated, SBA showed slightly higher cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines, as compared with normal cells, with a tumor-specificity index of 2.0. The human myelogenous leukemia cell lines (HL-60, ML-1, KG-1) were the most sensitive to SBA, followed by human oral squamous cell carcinoma (HSC-2, HSC-3, HSC-4) and human glioblastoma (T98G, U87MG). Human oral normal cells (gingival fibroblast, pulp cell, periodontal ligament fibroblast) were the most resistant. In contrast to actinomycin D, SBA induced little or no activation of caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 in the HSC-2, HSC-4, T98G and HL-60 cells, regardless of incubation time (either 6 or 24 h). SBA induced little or no internucleosomal DNA fragmentation after 6 h in all of these cells. However, prolonged treatment with SBA (24 h) induced a smear pattern of DNA fragmentation in the HSC-2, HSC-4 and T98G cells and a low level of internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in the HL-60 cells. Electron microscopy demonstrated the destruction of mitochondrial structure and autophagocytosis of broken organelles by SBA in the HSC-2, HSC-4 and HL-60 cells. At higher concentrations of SBA, necrotic cell death was observed in the HSC-2 cells, but not in the T98G cells, where the production of acidic organelles (detected by acridine orange staining) was much lower than that attained by nutritional starvation, a well-defined method of inducing autophagy. The present study suggests that SBA induces various degrees of autophagic cell death, followed by either necrosis or apoptosis at laters stage, depending on the cell type.

Twenty-six benzocycloheptoxazine derivatives were investigated for their tumor-specific cytotoxicity and apoptosis-inducing activity against three human normal cells (gingival fibroblast HGF, pulp cell HPC, periodontal ligament fibroblast HPLF) and four human tumor cell lines (squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, HSC-3, HSC-4, promyelocytic leukemia HL-60). Benzo[b]cyclohepta[e][1,4]thiazine [1] exhibited very weak cytotoxicity, whereas its 6,8,10-tribromo derivative [3] exhibited higher cytotoxicity and tumor specificity (TS = 5.6). 6H-Benzo[b]cyclohepta[e][1,4]diazine [4] and its cation [5] exhibited no tumor specificity. Among eighteen benzo[b]cyclohepta[e][1,4]oxazine derivatives [6-23], 6,8,10-triboromo- [9], 6-bromo-2-methyl- [20], and 6-bromo-2-chloro- [21] derivatives showed the highest tumor-specific cytotoxicity (TS = 12.5, 9.1 and 11.5, respectively). 14H-[1,4]Benzoxazino[3',2':3,4]cyclohepta[1, 2-b][1,4]benzoxazine [24] and its 7-bromo- [25] and 7-isopropyl- [26] derivatives had much lower cytotoxicity and tumor-specificity. Compounds [9, 20, 21] at 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and caspase activation in HL-60 cells. On the other hand, these compounds induced apoptosis only at concentrations higher than CC50 in HSC-2 cells and failed to induce apoptosis in HSC-4 cells. Compounds [9, 20, 21] induced the formation of acidic organelles as measured by acridine orange staining. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the induction of moderate enlargement of mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear membrane, and the vacuolation of the endoplasmic reticulum and the presence of a number of lamellar body-like organelles. These results indicate the diversity of the type of cell death induced by benzocycloheptoxazine derivatives in human tumor cell lines.

Fourteen vitamin K2 (menaquinone (MK)-n, n = 1-14) and ten prenylalcohol derivatives (n = 1-10) with different numbers (n) of isoprenyl groups in the side chains were investigated for their cytotoxicity against nine human tumor cell lines and three human normal oral cells. Among the vitamin K2 derivatives, MK-2 (n = 2) showed the greatest cytotoxicity, followed by MK-1 (n = 1) and MK-3 (n = 3). MK-1, MK-2 and MK-3 showed the highest tumor-specific index (TS=2.0, 2.0 and1.7, respectively). Among the prenylalcohols, geranylgeraniol (GG) (n = 4) showed the highest cytotoxicity, followed by farnesol (n = 3) and geranylfarnesol (GF) (n = 3). GG showed the highest tumor-specificity (TS = 1.8), followed by farnesol (TS =1.4), GF (TS=1.3). However, the tumor-specificity of MK-2 and GG was much lower than that of conventional chemotherapeutic agents. The human leukemic cell lines were the most sensitive, whereas the human glioblastoma cell lines were the most resistant to MK-2 and GG. MK-2 did not induce internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in either the human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 or the human squamous cell carcinoma HSC-4 cell lines. GG induced marginal internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in the HL-60 cells, but not in the HSC-4 cells. Both MK-2 and GG did not induce the formation of autophagosomes, nor did they clearly change the intracellular concentration of three polyamines. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy showed that only MK-1 (n = 1), as well as GGF (n = 7) and GFF (n = 8) which had lower cytotoxicity, produced radicals, suggesting the lack of connection between cytotoxicity and radical production. The present study demonstrates that the presence of 1,4-naphtoquinone structure (including alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones) in vitamin K2 derivatives confers on them the ability to induce non-apoptotic cell death.

Phenoxazines have shown diverse biological activities, but tumor-specific cytotoxic activity has not been investigated. A total of 24 phenoxazine derivatives (WM1-24) was investigated for their relative cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines vs. normal cells. WM7 and WM8 showed the highest tumor-specificity index of 4.3 and 4.8, respectively. Considerable difference in drug-sensitivity was found among these tumor cell lines. Human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells showed the highest sensitivity to both WM7 and WM8, followed by human oral squamous cell carcinoma (HSC-2, HSC-3, HSC-4), and human gingival fibroblast (HGF), pulp cell (HPC) and periodontal ligament fibroblast (HPLF) were the most resistant. WM7 and WM8 induced little or no internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, and activated caspase-3 in HSC-2, HSC-4 and human glioblastoma T98G cells. These compounds failed to induce autophagic cell death, as judged by acridine orange and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3)-GFP assays. These results suggested that the higher cytotoxicity of WM7 and WM8 are derived from the positively-charged quaternary nitrogen substituents on the phenoxazine ring and the electron density of nitrogen at N12, and that inhibition of autophagy is not always coupled with apoptosis induction.

Fourteen 4-trifluoromethylimidazole derivatives were investigated for their cytotoxicity against three human normal cells (gingival fibroblast HGF, pulp cell HPC and periodontal ligament fibroblast HPLF) and four human tumor cell lines (oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, HSC-3, HSC-4 and promyelocytic leukemia HL-60). Among these compounds, 4-trifluoromethyl-1,2-diphenylimidazole (IM5), 1-benzyl-4-trifluoromethyl-2-phenylimidazole (IM7) and 5-[1-ethoxy-2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl) ethyl]-1-methyl-2-phenyl-1H-imidazole (IM12) showed much higher cytotoxicity and tumor-specificity than the other compounds. IM5, the most potent compound, induced different types of cell death depending on the target cells. IM5 induced DNA fragmentation of oligonucleosomal units (a biochemical hallmark of apoptosis) in the HL-60 cells, but not in such a clear-cut laddering pattern in the HSC-2 cells. On the other hand, IM5 produced secondary lysosomes digesting broken organelles, without induction of internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and disappearance of cell surface microvilli in the HSC-4 cells, even though the HSC-2 and HSC-4 cells showed comparable sensitivity to IM5. These data suggest that the type of cell death is determined by the type of target cells, but not by the drug-sensitivity of the cells.

Twenty trihaloacetylazulene derivatives with one atom of fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine was investigated for their tumor-specific cytotoxicity and apoptosis-inducing activity against three human normal cells (gingival fibroblast, HGF; pulp cell, HPC; periodontal ligament fibroblast, HPLF) and four human tumor cell lines (squamous cell carcinoma, HSC-2, HSC-3, HSC-4; promyelocytic leukemia, HL-60). There was no apparent difference in the cytotoxic activity between 2-methoxyazulenes [1a-1e, 2a-2e] and 2-ethoxyazulenes [3a-3e, 4a-4e]. Trichloroacetylazulenes [2a-2e, 4a-4e] generally showed higher cytotoxicity and tumor-specificity (expressed as a TS value) as compared with the corresponding trifluoroacetylazulenes [1a-1e, 3a-3e]. Substitution of chloride [1c, 2c, 3c. 4c], bromide [1d, 2d, 3d, 4d] or iodine [1e, 2e, 3e, 4e] at the C-3 position further enhanced cytotoxic activity against four tumor cell lines, especially HL-60 cells. Among twenty trihaloacetylazulene derivatives, two compounds [2d] and [4c] showed the highest tumor specificity (TS =3.5 and2.5, respectively). Compounds [2d] and [4c] induced apoptotic cell death characterized by caspase-3, -8 and -9 activation and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells. On the other hand, compounds [2d] and [4c] induced autophagic cell death characterized by lower activation of caspases, lack of DNA fragmentation, vacuolization and autophagosome formation detected by acridine orange and LC3-GFP fluorescence, without the decline of the intracellular concentration of three major polyamines in HSC-4 cells. The cytotoxic activity of [4c], but not [2d], was slightly reduced by 3-methyladenine, an inhibitor of autophagy. These results suggest the diversity of cell death type induced in human tumor cell lines by trihaloacetylazulene derivatives.

A total of eleven stilbenes [1-6] and flavonoids [7-11] were investigated for their tumor- specific cytotoxicity and apoptosis-inducing activity, using four human tumor cell lines (squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, HSC-3, submandibular gland carcinoma HSG and promyelocytic leukemia HL-60) and three normal human oral cells (gingival fibroblast HGF, pulp cell HPC, periodontal ligament fibroblast HPLF). All of the compounds, especially sophorastilbene A [1], (+)-alpha-viniferin [2], piceatannol [5], quercetin [9] and isoliquiritigenin [10], showed higher cytotoxicity against the tumor cell lines than normal cells, yielding tumor-specific indices of 3.6, 4.7,3.5,3.3 and 4.0, respectively. Among the seven cell lines, HSC-2 and HL-60 cells were the most sensitive to the cytotoxic action of these compounds. Sophorastilbene A [1], piceatannol [5], quercetin [9] and isoliquiritigenin [10] induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and activation of caspases -3, -8 and -9 dose-dependently in HL-60 cells. (+)-alpha-Viniferin [2] showed similar activity, but only at higher concentrations. All the compounds failed to induce DNA fragmentation and activated caspases to much lesser extents in HSC-2 cells. Western blot analysis showed that sophorastilbene A [1], piceatannol [5] and quercetin [9] did not induce any consistent changes in the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax, Bad) and antiapoptotic protein (Bcl-2) in HL-60 and HSC-2 cells. An undetectable expression of Bcl-2 protein in control and drug-treated HSC-2 cells may explain the relatively higher sensitivity of this cell line to stilbenes and flavonoids.

In search of compounds which show tumor-specific cytotoxic activity, two 3,5-dibenzoyl-1, 4-dihydropyridines (GB5, GB12) were found to show one or two orders higher cytotoxic activity against human tumor cell lines (squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, HSC-3, submandibular gland carcinoma HSG, promyelocytic leukemia HL-60) than human normal cells (gingival fibroblast HGF, pulp cells HPC, periodontal ligament fibroblasts HPLF). GB5 and GB12 weakly induced several apoptosis-associated properties, such as internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, and activation of caspases -3, -8 and -9, in both HL-60 and HSC-2 cells. Western blot analysis showed that GB5 and GB12 transiently increased the expression of both anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-2) and proapoptotic proteins (Bax and Bad) in HL-60 cells. ESR spectroscopy showed these compounds did not produce any detectable amount of radicals, nor scavenged superoxide (generated by hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase reaction) or nitric oxide (generated by 1-hydroxy-2-oxo-3-(N-3-methyl-3-aminopropyl)-3-methyl-1-triazene), suggesting that the induction of cytotoxic action is not via a radical-mediated reaction. The present study suggests that GB5 and GB12 may induce non-apoptotic cell death in tumor cell lines.

We investigated 2 isoflavones and 9 isoflavanones from Sophora species for their cytotoxic activity against 3 normal human cells (gingival fibroblast, pulp cell, periodontal ligament fibroblast) and 2 human tumor cell lines (squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, submandibular gland carcinoma HSG). Compounds with 2 isoprenyl groups (one in A-ring and the other in B-ring) such as tetrapterol G [YS31] and isosophoranone [YS24], and those with alpha,alpha-dimethylallyl group at C-5' of B-ring [YS26 (secundifloran), YS27 (secundiflorol A), YS28 (secundiflorol D), YS29 (secundiflorol E)] showed relatively higher cytotoxic activity. When hydrophobicity was assessed by octanol-water partition coefficient (log P), the maximum cytotoxic activity was observed at a log P value around 4. Compounds with intermediate cytotoxic activity [YS27, genistein, YS28, YS29, YS30 (secundiflorol F)] showed relatively higher tumor specificity. All isoflavones and isoflavanones did not stimulate the nitric oxide (NO) production by mouse macrophage-like Raw 264.7 cells, but almost completely inhibited the NO production by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated Raw 264.7 cells. ESR spectroscopy showed that YS26 and YS28, which are the most inhibitory for NO production, efficiently scavenged superoxide anion and NO radicals. These data suggest that the inhibition of macrophage NO production by these isoflavanones may, at least in part, be explained by their radical scavenging or reduction activity.

The sensitivity of human hepatoma (HepG2) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (HSC-2) cell lines against various apoptosis-inducing agents was compared. HepG2 cells were generally more resistant to an oxidant (H2O2), antioxidants (sodium ascorbate, gallic acid, epigallocatechin gallate) and anticancer drugs (doxorubicin, methotrexate, cisplatin (CDDP), etoposide, 5-fluoro-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione (5-FU), peplomycin sulfate) as compared to HSC-2 cells. Lower concentrations of CDDP, but not other anticancer drugs, induced comparable cytostatic effects on both HSC-2 and HepG2 cells. CDDP induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and activation of caspases 3, 8 and 9 in HepG2 cells. On the other hand, CDDP did not induce DNA fragmentation and activated caspase 3 only marginally in HSC-2 cells. Combination treatment with CDDP (10 microM) and 5-FU (100 microM) additively activated all three caspases in HepG2 cells, but not in HSC-2 cells. The present study demonstrated the chemotherapeutic potential of combined treatment of CDDP and 5-FU against hepatoma cells and the considerable variation of drug sensitivity between cancer cell lines.

A series of simple alpha, beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (1-26) was characterized for their cytotoxic profiles against oral human normal and tumor cells. Several cycloalkenones showed potent cytotoxic activities against human oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2 cell line. Among them, 4,4-dimethyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one (12) exhibited low cytotoxic activity against a normal human cell, gingival fibroblast HGF, and displayed higher tumor-specific cytotoxicity (SI value = CC50 (HGF)/CC50 (HSC-2) = 4.0). The cytotoxicities of the unsaturated lactones were moderately tumor-specific (SI = 1.5-1.9). Agarose gel electrophoresis showed that the induction of internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in human promyelocytic leukemia cell HL-60 is dependent on the structure of alpha, beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Fluorometric protease assay showed that some, but not all compounds, activated the caspase 3 in a dose-dependent manner. All alpha, beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds studied did not activate caspases 8 and 9. The cytotoxic activity of alpha, beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds was profoundly reduced in the presence of N-acetylcysteine. The study suggests that the presence of a non sterically hindered Michael acceptor seems to be an essential structural requirement for the cytotoxic activity in alpha, beta-unsaturated ketones.

A variety of beta-diketones were evaluated for their cytotoxic profiles against oral human normal and tumor cells. Among 22 compounds (BD1-22) tested, the cytotoxicity of 3-formylchromone (BD17) (CC50=7.8 microg/mL) against human oral squamous cell carcinoma (HSC-2) cells was higher than that of curcumin (CC50=23.6 microg/mL). Tumor cell-specific cytotoxicity was also detected in BD17 which exhibited little cytotoxic activity against a normal human cell, gingival fibroblast (HGF). (-)-3- (BD13) (CC50=21.7 microg/mL) and (+)-3-(Trifluoroacetyl)camphor (BD12) (CC50=29.7 microg/mL) are enantiomers and showed cytotoxicity comparable to curcumin and dibenzoylmethane (BD2) (CC50=22.5 microg/mL). BD13 did not induce DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells nor activate caspase 3, 8 and 9 in both HL-60 and HSC-2 cells, regardless of the presence or absence of FeCl3. On the other hand, BD17 was found to induce apoptosis in HSC-2 and HL-60 cells, as judged by internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, caspase 3, 8 and 9 activation and dysfunction of mitochondrial membrane potential. The cytotoxic activity of BD13, BD17 and curcumin was significantly reduced by chelation with FeCl3. The tumor-specific cytotoxicity and apoptosis-inducing activity of BD17 against human tumor cells undoubtedly warrant further studies of its efficacy as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent.

Hydroxyketone chelators, deferiprone (HK1), maltol (HK3) and their related compounds (HK2, 4-8), were characterized for their cytotoxic profiles against oral human normal and tumor cells. Most hydroxyketones except HK6 showed relatively higher tumor-specific cytotoxicity. Deferiprone (HK1), which showed the highest tumor specificity, had 10 times higher cytotoxicity than maltol (HK3) in both human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 and human oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2 cell lines. The cytotoxic activity of HK1 against HL-60 and HSC-2 cells was reduced in the presence of FeCl3, while that of HK3 was significantly increased by FeCl3. Agarose gel electrophoresis showed that HK1 induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells, but the addition of FeCl3 inhibited the DNA fragmentation. HK3 did not induce DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells, regardless of the presence or absence of FeCl3. In HSC-2 cells, HK1 and 3 did not induce DNA fragmentation in the presence or absence of FeCl3. Colorimetric protease assay showed that HK1 activated the caspase 3, 8 and 9 in HL-60 cells. On the other hand, HK3 did not activate the caspase 3, 8 and 9 in HL-60 cells, but activated the caspase 3 only slightly in the presence of FeCl3. HK1 and 3 also activated the caspase 3, 8 and 9 in HSC-2 cells, but to a lesser extent. The present study suggested that the antitumor activity of hydroxyketones may be modified by Fe3+ concentration.

Several hydroxylated and/or methoxylated coumarin derivatives were tested for their relative cytotoxicity on four human tumor cell lines (oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, HSC-3, melanoma A-375 and promyelocytic HL-60) and three normal human cells (gingival fibroblast HGF, periodontal ligament fibroblast HPLF and pulp cell HPC). Tumor cell-specific cytotoxicity was detected in all 6,7-dihydroxy-substituted coumarins only. The observations indicate that the tumor-specific cytotoxicity of the naturally occurring coumarin esculetin can be further enhanced by proper substitutions at 3- and/or 4-position(s) of the molecule. Agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that esculetin and its derivatives with tumor-specific cytotoxicity induce internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells.