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A potential microtubule destabilising series of new indolizine derivatives was synthesised and tested for their anticancer activity against a panel of 60 human cancer cell lines. Compounds 11a, 11b, 15a, and 15j showed a broad spectrum of growth inhibitory activity against cancer cell lines representing leukaemia, melanoma and cancer of lung, colon, central nervous system, ovary, kidney, breast, and prostate. Among them, compound 11a was distinguishable by its excellent cytostatic activity, showing GI50 values in the range of 10–100 nM on 43 cell lines. The less potent compounds 15a and 15j in terms of GI50 values showed a high cytotoxic effect against tested colon cancer, CNS cancer, renal cancer and melanoma cell lines and only on few cell lines from other types of cancer. In vitro assaying revealed tubulin polymerisation inhibition by all active compounds. Molecular docking showed good complementarity of active compounds with the colchicine binding site of tubulin., Graphical Abstract

We report the synthesis and biochemical evaluation of compounds that are designed as hybrids of the microtubule targeting benzophenone phenstatin and the aromatase inhibitor letrozole. A preliminary screening in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells identified 5-((2H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)methyl)-2-methoxyphenol 24 as a potent antiproliferative compound with an IC50 value of 52 nM in MCF-7 breast cancer cells (ER+/PR+) and 74 nM in triple-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The compounds demonstrated significant G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis in the MCF-7 cell line, inhibited tubulin polymerisation, and were selective for cancer cells when evaluated in non-tumorigenic MCF-10A breast cells. The immunofluorescence staining of MCF-7 cells confirmed that the compounds targeted tubulin and induced multinucleation, which is a recognised sign of mitotic catastrophe. Computational docking studies of compounds 19e, 21l, and 24 in the colchicine binding site of tubulin indicated potential binding conformations for the compounds. Compounds 19e and 21l were also shown to selectively inhibit aromatase. These compounds are promising candidates for development as antiproliferative, aromatase inhibitory, and microtubule-disrupting agents for breast cancer.

Three series of fused pyrrolophenanthroline derivatives were designed as analogues of phenstatin and synthesized in two steps starting with 1,7-phenanthroline, 4,7-phenanthroline and 1,10-phenanthroline, respectively. Two (Compounds 8a and 11c) of the four compounds tested against a panel of sixty human cancer cell lines of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) exhibited significant growth inhibition activity on several cell lines. Compound 11c showed a broad spectrum in terms of antiproliferative efficacy with GI50 values in the range of 0.296 to 250 &mu, M. Molecular docking studies indicated that Compounds 8a and 11c are accommodated in the colchicine binding site of tubulin in two different ways.

Background: Phenstatin and their derivatives display remarkable antiproliferative activity toward a wide variety of preclinical tumor models. Structural simplicity and excellent stability of phenstatins offer a stimulating premise for developing various derivatives with profound antimitotic activity and excellent cytotoxicity. Objective: To do analysis of literature that phenstatins derivatives inhibit tubulin polymerization through their interaction at the colchicine binding site of microtubules and arrest the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. In addition, phenstatin derivatives are undergoing clinical evaluation as vascular targeting/disrupting agents and also exhibit direct antiangiogenic properties. Methods: An organised well designed and appropriately managed search of bibliographic databases for peer-reviewed research literature using a focused review question and inclusion/ exclusion criteria has been done for this article. Conclusion: In this review article, the synthesis and structure-activity relationships of phenstatin and a wide number of their reported analogues with modifications to ring A, ring B, and to the keto position are discussed in the perspective of medicinal chemistry with proper conclusion.

International audience; With the aim of investigating the influence of fluorine, in particular on the A-ring, a new series of fluoro analogues (7a-l) of phenstatin (3) was synthesized and tested for interactions with tubulin polymerization and evaluated for cytotoxicity on an NCI-60 human cancer cell lines panel. We have shown that the replacement of 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl A-ring of phenstatin with 2,4,5-trifluoro-3-methoxyphenyl unit, results in the conservation of both antitubulin and cytotoxic effect. Fluoro isocombretastatin 7k was the most effective anticancer agent in the present study and demonstrated the highest antiproliferative potential on leukemia cell lines SR (GI50=15 nM) and HL-60(TB) (GI50=23 nM) and on melanoma cell line MDA-MB-435 (GI50=19 nM).

International audience; Previous investigations on the incubation of phenstatin with rat and human microsomal fractions revealed the formation of nine main metabolites. The structures of eight of these metabolites have been now confirmed by synthesis and their biological properties have been reported. Eaton's reagent was utilized as a convenient condensing agent, allowing, among others, a simple multigram scale preparation of phenstatin. Synthesized metabolites and related compounds were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity in the NCI-60 cancer cell line panel, and for their effect on microtubule assembly. Metabolite 23 (2'-methoxyphenstatin) exhibited the most potent in vitro cytotoxic activity: inhibition of the growth of K-562, NCI-H322M, NCI-H522, KM12, M14, MDA-MB-435, NCI/ADR-RES, and HS 578T cell lines with GI(50) values

Phenstatin and its derivatives with the modified ring A have been synthesized, using plant allylpolyalkoxybenzenes as a starting material. The targeted molecules were evaluated in a phenotypic sea urchin embryo assay for antiproliferative activity. It was found that phenstatin ring A modifications yielded antimitotic compounds. The most effective myristicin derivative 7d (combretastatin A-2 analogue) was determined to be ca. 10 times more potent than phenstatin, displaying antimitotic tubulin-destabilizing activity at the same concentration range as combretastatins. In contrast to combretastatins, 7d featured the steric stability with potential for further design as anticancer agent.