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A series of β-carboline derivatives were designed and synthesized by introducing the chalcone moiety into the harmine. The synthesized derivatives were evaluated their anti-proliferative activities against six human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, HepG2, HT29, A549, and PC-3) and one normal cell line (L02). Among them, compound G11 exhibited the potent anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 cell line, with an IC 50 value of 0.34 μM. Further biological studies revealed that compound G11 inhibited colony formation of MCF-7 cells, suppressed MCF-7 cell migration by downregulating migration-associated protein MMP-2. In addition, it could induce apoptosis of MCF-7 cells by downregulating Bcl-2 and upregulating Cleaved-PARP, Bax, and phosphorylated Bim proteins. Furthermore, compound G11 can act as a Topo I inhibitor, affecting DNA synthesis and transcription, thereby inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. Moreover, compound G11 inhibited tumor growth in 4T1 syngeneic transplant mice with an inhibition rate of 43.19 % at a dose of 10 mg/kg, and 63.87 % at 20 mg/kg, without causing significant toxicity to the mice or their organs, achieving the goal of reduced toxicity and increased efficacy. All these results indicate of G11 has enormous potential as an anti-tumor agent and merits further investigation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Novel tolfenamic acid derivatives based on the structure of I-1 were designed and synthesized to improve its poor target inhibition and solubility. Among them, W10 was identified as a potent dual-target inhibitor of Topo I (IC 50  = 0.90 ± 0.17 μM) and COX-2 (IC 50  = 2.31 ± 0.07 μM) with improved water solubility (32.33 μg/mL). Moreover, W10 also exhibited fairly potent anti-proliferative and pro-apoptosis activity via the mitochondrial pathway, as well as suppressed aberrant NF-κB/IκB activation in colon cancer cells in vitro. Additionally, W10 possessed favorable pharmacokinetic properties and excellent antitumor effects in vivo. In general, our study has demonstrated the potency of a novel Topo I/COX-2 dual inhibitor, which can potentially be developed into a chemotherapeutic candidate for colon cancer., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Nature represents a rich source of compounds used for the treatment of many diseases. Camptothecin (CPT), isolated from the bark of Camptotheca acuminata, is a cytotoxic alkaloid that attenuates cancer cell replication by inhibiting DNA topoisomerase 1. Despite its promising and wide spectrum antiproliferative activity, its use is limited due to low solubility, instability, acquired tumour cell resistance, and remarkable toxicity. This has led to the development of numerous CPT analogues with improved pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profiles. Three natural product-inspired drugs, namely, topotecan, irinotecan, and belotecan, are clinically approved and prescribed drugs for the treatment of several types of cancer, whereas other derivatives are in clinical trials. In this review, which covers literature from 2015 to 2020, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview and describe efforts that led to the development of a variety of CPT analogues. These efforts have led to the discovery of potent, first-in-class chemotherapeutic agents inspired by CPT. In addition, the mechanism of action, SAR studies, and recent advances of novel CPT drug delivery systems and antibody drug conjugates are discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

DNA topoisomerase IB (TOP1) regulates DNA topological structure in many cellular metabolic processes and is a validated target for development of antitumor agents. Our previous study revealed that the benzophenanthridone scaffold is a novel chemotype for the discovery of TOP1 inhibitors. In this work, a series of novel 5-aminoethyl substituted benzophenanthridone derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated for TOP1 inhibition and cytotoxicity. Compound 12 exhibits the most potent TOP1 inhibition (+++) and cytotoxicity in human cancer cell lines with GI 50 values at nanomolar concentration range. 12 induces the cellular TOP1cc formation and DNA damage, resulting in HCT116 cell apoptosis. The pharmacokinetics, acute toxicity and antitumor efficiency in vivo of 12 were also studied., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Based on the mechanism of action, novel scaffolds as Topo I inhibitors bearing indole and sophoridinine were designed. Preliminary docking study revealed that some molecules among the designed series possessed promising Topo I inhibitor properties. Subsequently, thirty new compounds were synthesized and characterized by 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and Mass spectral analyses. The compounds were then screened for their antiproliferative and enzymatic inhibitory activities. The results affirmed the consistency between docking and activities and the rationality of the design strategy. Furthermore, compound 10b was chosen as a representative compound to test its anticancer effects in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that 10b caused prominent S phase cell cycle arrest and significantly suppressed tumor growth in HepG2 cell derived mouse model. These findings present a promising series of lead molecules which can serve as potential Topo I inhibitors for the treatment of cancer and a theoretical basis for structural modifications., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

A series of novel substituted uracil-1'(N)-acetic acid esters (6-20) of camptothecins (CPTs) were synthesized by the acylation method. These new compounds were evaluated for in vitro antitumor activity against tumor cell lines, A549, Bel7402, BGC-823, HCT-8 and A2780. In vitro results showed that most of the derivatives exhibited comparable or superior cytotoxicity compare to CPT (1) and topotecan (TPT, 2), with 12 and 13 possessing the best efficacy. Four compounds, 9, 12, 13 and 16, were selected to be evaluated for in vivo antitumor activity against H 22 , BGC-823 and Bel-7402 in mice. In vivo testing results indicated that 12 and 13 had antitumor activity against mouse liver carcinoma H 22 close to Paclitaxel and cyclophosphamide. 12 had similar antitumor activity against human gastric carcinoma BGC-823 in nude mice compared to irinotecan (3) and possessed better antitumor activity against human hepatocarcinoma Bel-7402 in nude mice than 2. It is also discovered that 12 showed a similar mechanism but better inhibitory activity on topoisomerase I (Topo I) compared to 2. These findings indicate that 20(S)-O-fluorouracil-1'(N)-acetic acid ester derivative of CPTs, 12, could be developed as an antitumor drug candidate for clinical trial., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected disease of poor and developing countries. The current therapeutic approach is based on pentavalent antimonial (Sb V ) drugs and amphotericin B, both nephrotoxic and parenterally administered drugs. Therefore, there is a real need of new antileishmanial drugs. Eukaryotic type I DNA topoisomerases (TopIB) have been identified as druggable targets against leishmaniasis. These enzymes are involved in solving topological problems generated during replication, transcription and recombination of DNA. Leishmanial TopIB is a unique heterodimeric protein structurally different than that found in the mammalian host, thus making it an interesting target for drug discovery. Tetrahydro indeno-1,5-naphthyridines 5 and indeno[1,5]naphthyridines 6 were synthesized. The inhibition of Leishmania and human TopIB of these polycyclic heterocycles were studied and their antileishmanial activity on promastigotes and amastigote-infected splenocytes of Leishmania infantum were evaluated. In this regard, it is noteworthy that some of the prepared heterocycles, as compounds 6b, 6i and 5 h, showed selective inhibition of LtopIB while no inhibition of hTopIB was observed at evaluated conditions. In addition, the cytotoxic effects of newly synthesized compounds were assessed on host murine splenocytes in order to calculate the corresponding selective indexes (SI). Tetrahydro indeno-1,5-naphthyridines 5e and 5h showed good antileishmanial activity (IC 50 values of 0.67 ± 0.06 and 0.54 ± 0.17 μM) with similar activity than the standard drug amphotericin B (0.32 ± 0.05 μM) and even tetrahydro indeno-1,5-naphthyridine 5h showed higher (SI) towards L. Infantum amastigotes. Likewise, in the family of indeno-[1,5]-naphthyridines 6, compound 6b showed good antileishmanial activity (IC 50 value 0.74 ± 0.08 μM) and higher selective index (SI) towards L. Infantum amastigotes than amphotericin B., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Oral topotecan (Hycamtin(®)) has been recently approved for the treatment of relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in 2007, however, the bioavailability and pharmacokinetic data of topotecan for Chinese patients is still limited. Xinze(®) is a new and the only capsule formulation of topotecan used in China that is similar to Hycamtin(®). The current study aimed to investigate the absolute bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of Xinze(®) in Chinese patients with advanced cancers. On day 1, an IV dose of 1.5 mg/m(2)/d as a 30 min continuous infusion was administered. Patients took the oral topotecan at one of two dose levels: 1.5 mg/m(2)/d (six patients) or 1.9 mg/m(2)/d (seven patients) on day 2. Plasma pharmacokinetics of total topotecan and topotecan in the lactone form were performed on both days using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified in exon 5 (421C>A) and in exon 2 (34G>A) in ATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 2 (ABCG2) were analyzed by direct sequencing. Safety assessments were performed throughout the study. The maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) reached at 1-2 h and the elimination half-life time (T1/2) was approximately 4.2 h after oral administration. The absolute bioavailability of total topotecan in the 1.5 mg/m(2)/d and 1.9 mg/m(2)/d groups averaged 41.23 ± 11.8% and 36.00 ± 14.8%, respectively. The patients with heterozygous SNPs had essentially the same bioavailability and pharmacokinetics. The bioavailability of topotecan after oral administration illustrates good systemic exposure at dosages of 1.5 mg/m(2)/d and 1.9 mg/m(2)/d over a five-day schedule in Chinese patients. On a dose-normalized basis, the values of Cmax and AUC0-t for total topotecan in Chinese patients were higher than in Caucasians following oral and intravenous administration, while the T1/2 was consistent., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)