AbstractNatural products belonging to different chemical classes have been established as a promising source of novel anticancer drugs. Several low‐molecular‐weight compounds from the classes of monoterpenes, phenylpropanoids, and flavonoids were shown to possess anticancer activities in previous studies. In this work, over 20 semisynthetic derivatives of molecules belonging to these classes, namely thymol, eugenol, and 6‐hydroxyflavanone were synthesized and tested for their cytotoxicity against two human cancer cell lines, namely AGS cells (gastric adenocarcinoma) and A549 cells (human lung carcinoma). An initial screening based on viability assessment was performed to identify the most cytotoxic compounds at 100 μM. The results evidenced that two 6‐hydroxyflavanone derivatives were the most cytotoxic among the compounds tested, being selected for further studies. These derivatives displayed enhanced toxicity when compared with their natural counterparts. Moreover, the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay showed that the loss of cell viability was not accompanied by a loss of membrane integrity, thus ruling out a necrotic process. Morphological studies with AGS cells demonstrated chromatin condensation compatible with apoptosis, confirmed by the activation of caspase 3/7. Furthermore, a viability assay on a noncancer human embryonic lung fibroblast cell line (MRC‐5) confirmed that these two derivatives possess selective anticancer activity.
摘要 属于不同化学类别的天然产品已被确定为新型抗癌药物的一种有前途的来源。以往的研究表明,单萜、苯丙酮类和黄酮类中的一些低分子量化合物具有抗癌活性。在这项工作中,合成了属于这些类别的分子(即百里酚、丁香酚和 6-羟基黄烷酮)的 20 多种半合成衍生物,并测试了它们对两种人类癌细胞系(即 AGS 细胞(胃腺癌)和 A549 细胞(人类肺癌))的细胞毒性。根据活力评估进行了初步筛选,以确定细胞毒性最强的 100 μM 化合物。结果表明,两种 6-羟基黄烷酮衍生物在所测试的化合物中细胞毒性最强,因此被选作进一步研究的对象。与天然对应物相比,这些衍生物显示出更强的毒性。此外,乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)测定显示,细胞活力的丧失并没有伴随着膜完整性的丧失,因此排除了坏死过程的可能性。对 AGS 细胞进行的形态学研究表明,染色质凝集与细胞凋亡相符,并通过 caspase 3/7 的激活得到证实。此外,对非癌人类胚胎肺成纤维细胞系(MRC-5)进行的存活率检测证实,这两种衍生物具有选择性抗癌活性。