Synthesis, in vitro anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic evaluation, and mechanism of action studies of 1-benzoyl-β-carboline and 1-benzoyl-3-carboxy-β-carboline derivatives
作者:Mei-Lin Yang、Ping-Chung Kuo、Tsong-Long Hwang、Wen-Fei Chiou、Keduo Qian、Chin-Yu Lai、Kuo-Hsiung Lee、Tian-Shung Wu
DOI:10.1016/j.bmc.2011.01.034
日期:2011.3
In the present study, various 1-substituted and 1,3-disubstituted beta-carboline derivatives were synthesized by a modified single-step Pictet-Spengler reaction. The compounds were examined for cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory activity, as measured by the inhibition of prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)) production and nitric oxide (NO) production. While only two compounds (28 and 31) showed marginal cytotoxicity against four human cancer cell lines, most of the tested compounds exhibited potent inhibitory activity of both NO and PGE(2) production. Moreover, compounds 6 and 16 significantly reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), suggesting that beta-carboline analogs can inhibit NO and PGE(2) production at the translational level. In addition, several of the beta-carboline derivatives (1, 2, 48, 11, 13, 22, 25, 27, 31, and 41-43) displayed significant inhibitory activity of superoxide anion (O-2(center dot-)) generation or elastase release compared to the reference compound, with 6 being the most potent. N-Formyl-L-methionyl-phenylalanine (FMLP)-induced phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and protein kinase B (AKT) were also inhibited by 6, suggesting that it suppresses human neutrophil functions by inhibiting the activation of JNK and AKT signaling pathways. Therefore, the synthetic 1-benzoyl-3-carboxy beta-carboline analogs may have great potential to be developed as anti-inflammatory agents. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.