Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies and ranks third among cancer-related deaths worldwide. Using matrine as a lead compound, 12 matrine derivatives were designed and synthesised, and their antiproliferative activities were evaluated in four cancer cell lines. Eight of the twelve compounds showed strong antiproliferative activity, with an IC50 of <10 μM. The compound ZS17 exhibited strong antiproliferative activity in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines with IC50 values in the range of 3.014–3.388 μM, which was much lower than that of matrine. Furthermore, we explored the role of ZS17 in inducing apoptosis in HCC cells in vitro and in vivo, as well as possible mechanisms involved. ZS17 inhibited the proliferation of BEL-7402 and HepG2 cells in time- and dose-dependent manners. In addition, we found that ZS17 significantly induced apoptosis and ROS (reactive oxygen species) production, promoted JNK phosphorylation, activated p53, and activated the caspase signalling pathway. Furthermore, the antioxidant NAC, JNK inhibitor SP600125, and Si-JNK increased cell viability, re-established cell metastasis, and inhibited ZS17-induced apoptosis. An in vivo antitumour assay demonstrated that ZS17 significantly reduced the number of migrating HepG2 cells in zebrafish embryos and suppressed the growth of HepG2 xenografts in nude mice without any obvious side effects. Our study demonstrated that the ROS-JNK-P53 pathway plays an important role in the destruction of liver tumour cells by ZS17. Thus, ZS17 may represent a promising chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of HCC patients.
肝细胞癌(HCC)是最常见的恶性肿瘤之一,在全球癌症相关死亡病例中排名第三。研究人员以马钱子碱为先导化合物,设计并合成了 12 种马钱子碱衍生物,并在四种癌细胞系中评估了它们的抗增殖活性。12 个化合物中有 8 个具有很强的抗增殖活性,IC50 为 10 μM。化合物 ZS17 在肝癌细胞系中表现出很强的抗增殖活性,其 IC50 值在 3.014-3.388 μM 之间,远低于马钱子碱。此外,我们还探讨了 ZS17 在体外和体内诱导 HCC 细胞凋亡的作用以及可能的机制。ZS17 对 BEL-7402 和 HepG2 细胞的增殖具有时间和剂量依赖性抑制作用。此外,我们还发现 ZS17 能显著诱导细胞凋亡和 ROS(活性氧)的产生,促进 JNK 磷酸化,激活 p53,并激活 caspase 信号通路。此外,抗氧化剂NAC、JNK抑制剂SP600125和Si-JNK可提高细胞活力,重建细胞转移,并抑制ZS17诱导的细胞凋亡。体内抗肿瘤试验表明,ZS17 能显著减少斑马鱼胚胎中迁移的 HepG2 细胞数量,抑制裸鼠体内 HepG2 异种移植的生长,且无明显副作用。我们的研究表明,ROS-JNK-P53 通路在 ZS17 破坏肝肿瘤细胞的过程中发挥了重要作用。因此,ZS17 可能是治疗 HCC 患者的一种有前途的化疗药物。