Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (Formerly Current Medicinal Chemistry - Anti-Cancer Agents) - Volume 16, Issue 8, 2016

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a non-receptor tryosine kinase that plays a vital role in tumor cell survival, proliferation and migration. It has been shown that inhibiting the activity of FAK may result in impeding tumor cells invasion and growth. There are several small molecule FAK inhibitors which have been developed with outstanding FAK inhibitory activity. And most of the small molecules are nitrogen-containing aromatic c Read More

Combretastatin A-4 (CA-4) is a natural product, which consists of two phenyl rings, linked by an ethylene bridge. CA-4, inhibitor of polymerization of tubulin to microtubules, possesses a strong antitumor and anti-vascular properties both in vitro and in vivo. Previous studies showed that disodium phosphate salt of CA-4, a water-soluble prodrug is well tolerated at therapeutically useful doses. However, it should be noted that the cis Read More

In spite of tremendous advancement in the field of cancer therapy, it is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. One of the newest targets in the field of cancer therapeutics is 5’Adenosine Mono Phosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK). In vitro and in vivo evidences suggest anti-cancer activity of AMPK. AMPK activation may promote catabolism while preventing the anabolic processes of cell. Thus it may mod Read More

The metal-based drugs have gained increasing attention in the fight against cancer. Ga(III) in the form of inorganic salts has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of a number of malignancies in experimental animals and humans, and has therefore attracted considerable pharmaceutical interest. However, the poor hydrolytic stability of Ga(III) in physiological medium owing to its property of hard Lewis acid prevents its wid Read More

In recent years, several small molecules approved by FDA for clinical studies are promising anti-cancer agent. Among the kinases, Abelson Leukaemia (Abl), sarcoma (Src), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and vascular endotelhial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) are considered as primary molecular targets for selective inhibition and the best successful targeted therapy of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has bee Read More

The role of sirtuins in age-related diseases is an area of rapidly expanding investigation. Sirtuins are NAD+ -dependent class III histone deacetylases (HDACs) that share extensive homologies with the yeast HDAC Sir2. Class I and class II HDACs inhibitors have been identified as potential anticancer agents and are in clinical studies, but much less is known about class III HDAC inhibitors. However, inhibitors of sirtuins are currently bei Read More

Menadione (Vitamin K3) comprises of 1,4-naphthoquinone (NQ) moiety that can form redox isomers such as napthosemiquinone (NSQ) and catechol by accepting one or two electrons, respectively. The quinone redox cycling ability leads to the generation of "reactive oxygen species" (ROS) as well as arylation reactions, which are of biological relevance. This ability can be modulated with the help of suitable derivatizati Read More

A new series of pyrano[2,3-d:6,5-d']dipyrimidine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity. The structures of all the synthesized compounds were confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 15N NMR, HR-MS and FT-IR spectral analyses. The cytotoxic activities of these compounds against four human cancer (HeLa, SKBR-3, HepG2, and Caco-2) cell lines were determined. The synthesized compounds sho Read More

The objective of the study was to investigate the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of Methotrexate (MTX)-loaded chitosan (CS) on LNCaP prostate cancer cell line in vitro. For this purpose, CS nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through ionic gelation method and MTX was loaded into the carrier with encapsulation. SEM images of the CS NPs have revealed that they have size of about 85 nm in mono-disperse manner. Drug Read More

The following study explored the cytotoxic effect on human cancer cells of a series of novel progesterone derivatives through the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds incorporating progesterone moiety. The reaction of progesterone (1) with cyanoacetanilide derivatives gave the condensation products 3a,b. Either of compound 3a or 3b reacted with elemental sulfur affording the thiophene derivatives 4a and 4b, r Read More

We investigated the in vitro effects of guaraná and its main metabolites (caffeine, theobromine and catechin) on cytotoxicity and cell proliferation on colorectal cancer (CRC) line HT-29 cells and on oxaliplatin sensitivity. The cells were exposed to different concentrations of guaraná extract with and without oxaliplatin. The concentrations of bioactive molecules were also estimated considering their potential proportion on guaran Read More

Autophagy is engaged in tumor growth and progression, but also acts as a cell death and tumor suppression initiator. Naturally-derived compounds and their derivatives constitute a rich source of autophagy modulators. This paper presents the study on the mechanism of action of oleanolic acid derivatives, HIMOXOL and Br-HIMOLID, in MCF7 breast cancer cells. Both compounds reduced MCF7 cell viability more efficiently than th Read More