Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of C-8 modified curcumol derivatives against colorectal cancer cell lines

• Published in: Journal of asian natural products research Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 287 - 300
• Main Authors: Nong, Bin-Lu, Meng, Xiang-Wei, Wei, Ying-Ying, Zhao, Hua-Jun, Zhang, Xing-Xian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: ABINGDON Taylor & Francis 04.03.2023; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: anti-CRC activity; Anticancer properties; Antitumor activity; Apoptosis; Cancer; cell apoptosis; Cell proliferation; Chemistry; Chemistry, Applied; Chemistry, Medicinal; Colorectal carcinoma; Curcumol; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; Physical Sciences; Plant Sciences; Science & Technology; structural modification; Structure-activity relationships; Tumor cell lines; ANTICANCER PROPERTIES; APOPTOSIS; Curcumol; GROWTH; cell apoptosis; INHIBITOR; structural modification; anti-CRC activity
• ISSN: 1028-6020; 1477-2213
• DOI: 10.1080/10286020.2022.2067533

A series of structurally modified curcumol derivatives at C-8 position were designed and synthesized, whose structures were confirmed by 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and HRMS analysis. The tested compounds were evaluated for in vitro antitumor activity against colorectal cancer cell lines SW620, HCT116, and CaCo2. Many of the tested candidates exhibited higher inhibition efficiency than curcumol. Among them, compound 3 l shows the best inhibitory effect on the viability of SW620 with IC 50 value of 19.90 ± 0.64 µM. The structure-activity relationships of these derivatives were discussed, which showed that the introduction of amino or aryl groups tended to increase the anti-cancer activity. In addition, compound 3 l may inhibit cancer cell proliferation through triggering cell apoptosis.