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A series of 4-anilinoquinolinylchalcone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for antiproliferative activities against the growth of human cancer cell lines (Huh-7 and MDA-MB-231) and normal lung cells (MRC-5). The results exhibited low cytotoxicity against human lung cells (MRC-5). Among them, ( E )-3-{4-{[4-(benzyloxy)phenyl]amino}quinolin-2-yl}-1-(4-methoxyphenyl) prop-2-en-1-one ( 4a ) was found to have the highest cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells and low cytotoxicity in normal cells. Compound 4a causes ATP depletion and apoptosis of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells and triggers reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent caspase 3/7 activation. In conclusion, it is worth studying 4-anilinoquinolinylchalcone derivatives further as new potential anticancer agents for the treatment of human cancers.

Cancer metabolic reprogramming promotes tumorigenesis and metastasis; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still being uncovered. In this study, we show that the glycolytic enzyme aldolase A (ALDOA) is a key enzyme involved in lung cancer metabolic reprogramming and metastasis. Overexpression of ALDOA increased migration and invasion of lung cancer cell lines in vitro and formation of metastatic lung cancer foci in vivo . ALDOA promoted metastasis independent of its enzymatic activity. Immunoprecipitation and proteomic analyses revealed γ-actin binds to ALDOA; blocking this interaction using specific peptides decreased metastasis both in vitro and in vivo . Screening of clinically available drugs based on the crystal structure of ALDOA identified raltegravir, an antiretroviral agent that targets HIV integrase, as a pharmacologic inhibitor of ALDOA-γ-actin binding that produced antimetastatic and survival benefits in a xenograft model with no significant toxicity. In summary, ALDOA promotes lung cancer metastasis by interacting with γ-actin. Targeting this interaction provides a new therapeutic strategy to treat lung cancer metastasis. SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates the role of aldolase A and its interaction with γ-actin in the metastasis of non-small lung cancer and that blocking this interaction could be an effective cancer treatment., (©2019 American Association for Cancer Research.)

A number of 3-phenylquinolinylchalcone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in vitro for their antiproliferative activities against three breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and SKBR-3), and a non-cancer normal epithelial cell line (H184B5F5/M10). Among them, (E)-3-[3-(4-methoxyphenyl)quinolin-2-yl]-1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)prop-2-en-1-one (7) was active against the growth of MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and SKBR-3 with IC50 values of 1.05, 0.75, and 0.78 μM respectively without significant cytotoxicity to the normal H184B5F5/M10 cell line and therefore, was selected as a new lead for further mechanism studies. Results indicated that compound 7 inhibited the polymerization of tubulins, induced G2/M cell cycle arrest via modulation of the cyclin B1, cdk1 and CDC25. Compound 7 ultimately induced cell apoptosis by the increase of apoptotic protein Bax and the decrease of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. In addition, PARP was cleaved while caspase-3 and -8 activities were induced after the treatment of compound 7 for 24 h in a concentration-dependent manner. Thus, compound 7 induces cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase via cleavage of PARP, induces caspase-3 and -8 activities and consequently to cause the cell death. Further study on the structure optimization of 7 is ongoing., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Previously, we reported that Akt inactivation by γ-tocopherol (2) in PTEN-negative prostate cancer cells resulted from its unique ability to facilitate membrane co-localization of Akt and PHLPP1 (PH domain leucine-rich repeat protein phosphatase isoform 1), a Ser473-specific Akt phosphatase, through pleckstrin homology (PH) domain binding. This finding provided a basis for exploiting 2 to develop a novel class of PHLPP1-targeted Akt inhibitors. Here, we used 3 (γ-VE5), a side chain-truncated 2 derivative, as a scaffold for lead optimization. The proof-of-concept of this structural optimization was obtained by 20, which exhibited higher antitumor efficacy than 3 in PTEN-negative cancer cells through PHLPP1-facilitated Akt inactivation. Like 3, 20 preferentially recognized the PH domains of Akt and PHLPP1, as its binding affinities for other PH domains, including those of ILK and PDK1, were an order-of-magnitude lower. Moreover, 20 was orally active in suppressing xenograft tumor growth in nude mice, which underlines the translational potential of this new class of Akt inhibitor in PTEN-deficient cancers.

Camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives are powerful anticancer agents, but these compounds are chemically unstable due to their α-hydroxy lactone six-membered E-ring structure, which is essential for trapping topoisomerase I (topo I)-DNA cleavage complexes. Moreover, the reversibility of trapping the topo I-DNA cleavage complex and the tight binding of CPTs to human serum albumin limit the levels of available active drug. CPT analogs are the only clinically available drugs that target topo I. Owing to the clinical importance of CPT analogs, the development of new anticancer agents which inhibit topo I is urgently needed. In the present study, we report the synthesis, biologic evaluation, and molecular mechanism of a series of substituted indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives against the growth of several human cancer cell lines. We found that 9-methoxy-6-(piperazin-1-yl)-11H-indeno[1,2-c]quinoline-11-one O-3-(dimethylamino)propyl oxime (TCH-1030) intercalated into DNA and preferentially inhibited DNA topo I relaxation. Flow cytometric analysis and BrdU incorporation assays indicate that TCH-1030 alters cell cycle progression, induces S-phase arrest, and causes DNA polyploidy (>4 N) that is distinct from the typical G2-M arrest reported with known topoisomerase toxins. Our data indicate that TCH-1030 induces caspase 3 activation, PARP cleavage, γ-H2AX phosphorylation, and, consequently, DNA fragmentation and apoptosis. We also demonstrated that treatment with TCH-1030 significantly inhibits tumor growth in a BT483-xenograft nude mouse model. Taken together, we conclude that the primary mechanism of action of TCH-1030-induced cell cycle retardation and apoptosis-mediated DNA damage involves DNA binding and intercalation as well as topo I inhibition.

We have reported the preparation and anticancer evaluation of certain 4-anilinofuro[2,3-b]quinolines. However, drawbacks such as lack of selective cytotoxicity, poor oral bioavailability, and poor water solubility exhibited by these compounds prompted us to search for newer derivatives. Among them, (E)-1-(4-(furo[2,3-b]quinolin-4-ylamino)phenyl)ethanone O-2-aminoethyloxime (13a) is selectively active against the growth of NCI-H460 and is highly water-soluble (63 μg/mL). Its hydrochloride salt, 13a·HCl exhibited not only excellent water solubility (1049 μg/mL) but also a high oral bioavailability (57.1%). Compound 13a may cause cancer cell apoptosis through inducing mitotic arrest and mitotic catastrophe mechanism. Xenographic studies indicated the tumor size with 13a·HCl treated nude mice was significantly lower than control. Further evaluation in an orthotopic lung cancer model indicated that 13a·HCl can be absorbed readily through oral administration, distributed to lung tissue, and exhibited significant efficacy in inhibiting the growth of lung cancers.

Certain indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferation, DNA binding affinity, and topoisomerases (topo I and topo II) inhibitory activities. The preliminary results are the following: (1) substituent of the aminoalkoxyimino side chain at C11 is important for antiproliferative activities in which the terminal amine preferred to be a tertiary or the cyclic five-membered pyrrolidino ring; (2) among the indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives evaluated, (E)-6-hydroxy-9-methoxy-11H-indeno[1,2-c]quinolin-11-one O-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethyl oxime (8c) was found to be one of the most cytotoxic agents with a GI50 value of 0.84, 0.89, and 0.79 microM against SAS, A549, and BT483, respectively, which is more active than camptothecin; (3) substituent at C6 is crucial for the selective cytotoxicity in which the OH group is the most preferred while hydrogen or piperazine exhibited cytotoxicity on both cancer cells and Detroit-551; (4) a positive correlation of antiproliferative activity, DNA binding affinity, and topo I and topo II inhibitory activities has been observed for indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives; (5) compound 8c induced DNA fragmentation may through caspase-3 activation, phosphorylation of the histone protein H2AX at Ser139 (gamma-H2AX), and PARP cleavage; (6) compound 8c demonstrated significant tumor regression in the human breast xenograft model; (7) indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives are a new class of molecules that have the potential to be developed as dual topo I and topo II inhibitory agents.

To continue our early study on the structural modifications of clioquinol, more 8-hydroxyquinoline-derived Mannich bases were synthesized and examined for growth-inhibitory effect. Taken Mannich base 1 as our lead compound, upon replacement of either sulfonyl group with methylene group or piperazine ring with ethylenediamine group resulted in an appreciable increase in potency. On the other hand, as 8-hydroxyquinoline was replaced with phenol, 3-hydroxypyridine and 1-naphthol, a dramatic decrease in activity was observed, indicating that 8-hydroxyquinoline is a crucial scaffold for activity. Further 3D-QSAR analysis on HeLa cells revealed that both steric and electronic effects contributed equally to growth inhibition. Taken together, the structure-activity relationships obtained from both in vitro data and CoMFA model warrant a valuable reference for further study., (Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The scaffold of 3,5-diaryl-1H-pyrazole was selected as a molecular template to synthesize novel growth-inhibitory agents in the present study. Our findings suggested that analogs bearing electron-withdrawing groups on one ring while electron-donating groups on another reveal significant activities. In particular, 26 bearing a 1,1'-biphenyl moiety displayed the most potent activity against OVCA, SW620, H460 and AGS cells with GI(50) values of 0.67, 0.89, 0.73 and 0.79 microM, respectively. The mechanistic study revealed that 26-mediated apoptosis-inducing effect on OVCA cells was, in part, attributed to the inhibition of protein kinase B/Akt activity, accompanied by the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway through the activation of caspase-9, caspase-3, as well as the cleavage of protein poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and DNA fragmentation. Further structure-activity relationship study employed by Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA) was carried out with q(2) and R(2) values of 0.671 and 0.846, respectively., ((c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Although the quinoline ring is found in a wide variety of biologically active compounds and is frequently condensed with various heterocycles, synthesis and biological evaluation of the indenoquinoline skeleton attracts only very limited attention. We report herein the synthesis and antiproliferative evaluation of certain indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives against the growth of six cancer cell lines including human cervical epithelioid carcinoma (HeLa), oral squamous cell carcinoma (SAS), hepatocellular carcinoma (SKHep), human stomach adenocarcinoma (AGS), prostate cancer (PC-3), and non-small cell lung cancer (A549). The results indicated that 9-methoxy-6-(piperazin-1-yl)-11H-indeno[1,2-c]quinolin-11-one (17b) is more active than its C(6)-amino derivative 17a, C(6)-morpholine and C(6)-piperidine isomers, 17c and 17d, respectively. Treatment of 17b with NH(2)OH afforded its hydroxyimino derivative 20 which is more active than the carbonyl precursor 17b. More potent agents were obtained by further derivatization of 20. Thus, antiproliferative activities decreased in an order of aminoalkoxyimino 22a-d>hydroxyimino 20>alkoxyimino 21, 22e>carbonyl 17b. Both AGS and A549 were resistant to camptothecin with GI(50) values of 23.76 and 2.80 microM, respectively, while GI(50) values for 22a-d were in the range of 5.93-7.11 microM and 0.38-0.87 microM, respectively. Among them, 22b was the most potent with GI(50) values of 0.52, 0.74, 6.76, and 0.64 microM against the growth of HeLa, SKHep, AGS, and A549 cells, respectively. Flowcytometric analysis indicated 22c can induce cell cycle arrest in S phase, and DNA polyploidy (>4n) followed by apoptosis.

On the basis of our finding that the antitumor effectof 5-{4-[(1-methylcyclohexyl)methoxy]benzyl}thiazolidine-2,4-dione,a thiazolidinedione peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γagonist, was, in part, attributable to its ability to block glucoseuptake independently of PPARγ, we used its PPARγ-inactiveanalogue to develop a novel class of glucose transporter (GLUT) inhibitors.This lead optimization led to compound 30{5-(4-hydroxy-3-trifluoromethylbenzylidene)-3-[4,4,4-trifluoro-2-methyl-2-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)butyl]thiazolidine-2,4-dione}as the optimal agent, which exhibited high antitumor potency throughthe suppression of glucose uptake (IC50, 2.5 μM),while not cytotoxic to prostate and mammary epithelial cells. Thisglucose uptake inhibition was associated with the inhibition of GLUT1(IC50, 2 μM). Moreover, the mechanism of antitumoraction of compound 30was validated by its effect ona series of energy restriction-associated cellular responses. Homologymodeling analysis suggests that the inhibitory effect of compound 30on glucose entry was attributable to its ability to bindto the GLUT1 channel at a site distinct from that of glucose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present report describes the synthesis and antiproliferative evaluation of certain indolo[3,2-c]quinoline derivatives. For the C6 anilino-substituted derivatives, (11H-indolo[3,2-c]quinolin-6-yl)phenylamine (6a) was inactive. Structural optimization of 6a by the introduction of a hydroxyl group at the anilino-moiety resulted in the enhancement of antiproliferative activity in which the activity decreased in an order of para-OH, 7a > meta-OH, 8a > ortho-OH, 9a. For the C6 alkylamino-substituted derivatives, 11a, 12a, 13a, 14a, and 15a exhibited comparable antiproliferative activities against all cancer cells tested and the skin Detroit 551 normal fibroblast cells. Three cancer cells, HeLa, A549, and SKHep, are very susceptible with IC50 of less than 2.17μM while PC-3 is relatively resistant to this group of indolo[3,2-c]quinolines. For the 2-phenylethylamino derivatives, compound 20a is active against the growth of HeLa with an IC50 of 0.52μM, but is less effective against the growth of Detroit 551 with an IC50 of 19.32μM. For the bis-indolo[3,2-c]quinolines, N,N-bis-[3-(11H-indolo[3,2-c]quinolin-6-yl)aminopropyl]amine hydrochloride (25) is more active than its N-methyl derivative 26 and the positive Doxorubicin. Mechanism studies indicated 25 can induce caspase-3 activation, γ-H2AX phosphorylation, cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase and DNA fragmentation. These results provide evidence that DNA, topo I, and topo II are the primary targets of indolo[3,2-c]quinoline derivatives and that consequently inhibits proliferation and causes apoptosis in cancer cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Kelsoenethiol (I) and dikelsoenyl ether (II) are screened in vitro for their cytotoxicity against A-459, P-388, and HT-29 cancer cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]