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A new series of bis(aryl or aralkyl) diselenides 5a-5q was synthesized by selenylation from aryl halide (or aralkyl halide) for development of new anticancer agents. The process involves the reaction of aryl halides (or aralkyl halides) with selenium, hydrazine hydrate under atmospheric pressure in the presence of sodium hydroxide, to afford diorganodiselenides. These new compounds showed antiproliferative activities against breast cancer (MCF-7) cells in CCK-8 assays, and could be promising candidates for chemotherapy of carcinomas. Among 17 synthesized compounds for inhibiting the growth of these cell lines, 1,2-bis(chloropyridazinyl) diselenide 5a showed the highest potency. This result suggests the potential anticancer activity of compound 5a.

A new series of 6-allylthio-3-aralkylthio-4,5-dimethylpyridazines 5a-5k and 1-allylthio-4-alkylthio-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrophthalazine 6a-6j was synthesized from maleic anhydride derivatives for development of new anticancer agents. The process involves the formation of pyridazine and phthalazine rings, dichlorination, allylthiolation, and aralkylthiolation. These new compounds showed antiproliferative activities against breast cancer (MCF-7) and hepatocarcinoma (Hep3B) cells in CCK-8 assays, and could be promising candidates for chemotherapy of carcinomas. Among 21 synthesized compounds, five compounds (5a, 5b, 6b, 6d, and 6f) showed higher potency than 5-FU for inhibiting the growth of cell line. The results indicated that compound 6f had the highest activity towards MCF-7 and Hep3B cells. These results suggest the potential anticancer activity of compounds 5a, 5b, 6b, 6d, and 6f.

A new series of 3-allylseleno-6-alkylthiopyridazines 6a-6g was synthesized by two synthetic routes from 3,6-dichloropyridazine to develop new anticancer agents. These new compounds showed antiproliferative activities against breast cancer (MCF-7) cells in CCK-8 assays, and could be promising candidates for chemotherapy of carcinomas. Compound 6e (3-allylseleno-6-pentylthiopyridazine) showed higher potency than 5FU for inhibiting the growth of these cell lines. This suggests the potential anticancer activity of compound 6e.

Diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to treat inflammatory diseases induces cellular toxicity by increasing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and impairing autophagic flux. In this study, we investigated whether diclofenac induces cancer cell death and the mechanism by which diclofenac causes cell death. We observed that diclofenac induces mitotic arrest with a half-maximal effective concentration of 170 μM and cell death with a half-maximal lethal dose of 200 µM during 18-h incubation in HeLa cells. Cellular microtubule imaging and in vitro tubulin polymerization assays demonstrated that treatment with diclofenac elicits microtubule destabilization. Autophagy relies on microtubule-mediated transport and the fusion of autophagic vesicles. We observed that diclofenac inhibits both phagophore movement, an early step of autophagy, and the fusion of autophagosomes and lysosomes, a late step of autophagy. Diclofenac also induces the fragmentation of mitochondria and the Golgi during cell death. We found that diclofenac induces cell death further in combination with 5-fuorouracil, a DNA replication inhibitor than in single treatment in cancer cells. Pancreatic cancer cells, which have high basal autophagy, are particularly sensitive to cell death by diclofenac. Our study suggests that microtubule destabilization by diclofenac induces cancer cell death via compromised spindle assembly checkpoints and increased ROS through impaired autophagy flux. Diclofenac may be a candidate therapeutic drug in certain type of cancers by inhibiting microtubule-mediated cellular events in combination with clinically utilized nucleoside metabolic inhibitors, including 5-fluorouracil, to block cancer cell proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the synthesis and antiproliferative properties of chloropyridazine derivatives in human cancer cell lines. Topics include the formation of chloropyridazine mostly through substitution reaction, the inhibitory effects of chloropyridazines against breast cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma cells and the potential of chloropyridazine derivatives as antitumor candidates.