- Functionalized curcumin analogs as potent modulators of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway
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Osteosarcoma is a primary bone malignancy with aggressive metastatic potential and poor prognosis rates. In our earlier work we have investigated the therapeutic potential of curcumin as an anti-invasive agent in osteosarcoma by its ability to regulate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. However, the clinical use of curcumin is limited owing to its low potency and poor pharmacokinetic profile. In this study, an attempt was made to achieve more potent Wnt inhibitory activity in osteosarcoma cells by carrying out synthetic chemical modifications of curcumin. We synthesized a total of five series consisting of 43 curcumin analogs and screened in HEK293T cells for inhibition of β-catenin transcriptional activity. Six promising analogs, which were 6.5- to 60-fold more potent than curcumin in inhibiting Wnt activity, were further assessed for their anti-invasive activity and Wnt inhibitory mechanisms. Western blot analysis showed disruption of β-catenin protein nuclear translocation following treatment with analogs 2f, 3c and 4f. Using transwell assays, we also found that these compounds were more potent than 1a (curcumin) in impeding the invasion of osteosarcoma cells, possibly through suppressing MMP-9 activity. Structure-activity-relationship studies revealed that Wnt inhibitory effects could be enhanced by shortening and restraining the flexibility of the 7-carbon linker moiety connecting the terminal aromatic rings of curcumin and substituting both rings with appropriate substituents. Our results demonstrate that the synthesized curcumin analogs are more potent Wnt inhibitors in osteosarcoma cell lines as compared to parental curcumin and are good lead compounds for further development. Future in vivo tests with these compounds will define their therapeutic potentials as promising drug candidates for clinical treatment of osteosarcoma.
- Leow, Pay-Chin,Bahety, Priti,Boon, Choon Pei,Lee, Chong Yew,Tan, Kheng Lin,Yang, Tianming,Ee, Pui-Lai Rachel
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- Synthesis, crystal structure and anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin analogues
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Curcuminoids have been reported to possess multifunctional bioactivities, especially the ability to inhibit proinflammatory induction. Since it has been suggested that the seven-carbon β-diketone linker in curcumin is responsible for its instability, nine mono-carbonyl five-carbon linker containing analogues were designed and synthesized. Their bioactivity against lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-α amd IL-6 secretion was evaluated by using mouse J774.1 macrophages. The results showed that the 3′-methoxyl plays an important role in bioactivity and cyclohexanone containing analogues exhibited stronger inflammatory inhibition than acetone and cyclopentanone analogues. Subsequently the most active analogue 3c was determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. X-ray analysis and comparison with curcumin reveals that the presence of cyclohexanone in 3c, which remotely resembles the 6-membered ring in the enol tautomer in curcumin, may play an important role in the bioactivity. It is suggested that five-carbon linker analogues containing a cyclohexane ring which are synthetically assessable may be pharmacologically important.
- Liang, Guang,Yang, Shulin,Zhou, Huiping,Shao, Lili,Huang, Kexin,Xiao, Jian,Huang, Zhifeng,Li, Xiaokun
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experimental part
p. 915 - 919
(2009/09/08)
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