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Phytochemical investigation of the seeds of Coix lacryma-jobi var. lacryma-jobi resulted in the isolation of eight compounds, including two new structures, coixdines A-B (1-2) and six known compounds (3-8). The structures of these compounds were determined by 1 D and 2 D NMR spectra referring to the literatures, together with HR-MS analysis. Coixdine A and B are first examples of spermidine skeleton in genus Coix. In the present paper, all compounds were evaluated for the cytotoxicity against two cancer cell lines (CT-26 and BxPC-3) in vitro, and none of the compounds exhibited obvious cytotoxic activity. The present investigation suggests that these amides seem to be of great chemotaxonomic value for C. lacryma-jobi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel derivatives of 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) were synthesized by introducing aromatic or heterocyclic structures to extend the side chain, thereby enhancing their interaction with amino acid residues in the active pocket of the target protein. These compounds were structurally characterized using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS. The compounds were subsequently evaluated for their inhibitory effects on HIV-1 protease and cell viability in the human cancer cell lines K562 and HeLa and the mouse cancer cell line CT26. Towards HIV-1 protease, compounds 28 and 32, which featured the introduction of heterocyclic moieties at the C3 position of GA, exhibited the highest inhibition, with inhibition rates of 76% and 70.5%, respectively, at 1 mg/mL concentration. Further molecular docking suggests that a 3-substituted polar moiety would be likely to enhance the inhibitory activity against HIV-1 protease. As for the anti-proliferative activities of the GA derivatives, incorporation of a thiazole heterocycle at the C3- position in compound 29 significantly enhanced the effect against K562 cells with an IC50 value of 8.86 ± 0.93 µM. The introduction of electron-withdrawing substituents on the C3-substituted phenyl ring augmented the anti-proliferative activity against Hela and CT26 cells. Compound 13 exhibited the highest inhibitory activity against Hela cells with an IC50 value of 9.89 ± 0.86 µM, whereas compound 7 exerted the strongest inhibition against CT26 cells with an IC50 value of 4.54 ± 0.37 µM. These findings suggest that further modification of GA is a promising path for developing potent novel anti-HIV and anticancer therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieved herein is a novel diversity‐oriented one‐pot multicomponent synthesis of polycyclic pyrrolidinyl‐dispirooxindoles 3. The key pyrrolidine forming reaction is the 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition event of isatylidenyl‐chromanones 2 with azomethine ylides (thermally generated in situ from isatins and proline or thioproline). Products bearing four consecutive stereocenters consist of two oxindole moieties and a pyrrolidinyl core, including vicinal spiroquaternary stereocenters fused in one ring structure, were smoothly obtained in high yields (up to 89% yield) with good diastereoselectivity (up to >20:1). Valuable feature of this method was the design of new hybrid architectures for biological screenings through creating molecular diversity and complexity by means of the generation of several bonds and rings in a single operation. In particular, their biological activity against human leukemia cells K562 and normal L929 cells have been evaluated. These results suggested changes of this chromanone group could obviously impact the activity, and a chromanone group located in the polycyclic pyrrolidinyl‐dispirooxindoles is beneficial for the activity. What is more, the results also indicated that chromanone‐fused polycyclic pyrrolidinyl‐dispirooxindoles 3 have selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells K562 compared with normal cells L929. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and efficient methodology was developed for the synthesis of multifunctional polycyclic spiropyrrolidine oxindoles bearing mesityl oxide unit via a three-component 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of dienones 2 with azomethine ylides (thermally generated in situ from isatin derivatives and proline or thioproline). Products bearing adjacent four chiral carbon centers were smoothly obtained in high yields (up to 98% yield) with diastereoselectivities up to >20:1. Furthermore, the key structural characteristic of the products of such a reaction is the natural product ingredient turmerone motif fused at the 3-position of the spirooxindole core, with varying degrees of substitution around it. In addition, their biological activity has been preliminarily demonstrated by in vitro evaluation against human prostate cancer cells PC-3, human lung cancer cells A549 and human leukemia cells K562 by the MTT-based assays, using the commercially available standard drugs Cisplatin as a positive control. These results suggested there is a trend that lipophilicity groups improve the potency, and also suggested an mesityl oxide moiety located in the polycyclic spiropyrrolidine oxindoles is beneficial for the activity. The results also demonstrated that most of the compounds showed considerable cytotoxicities to these three cell lines K562, A549 and PC-3, and indicated that polycyclic spiropyrrolidine oxindole analogs bearing mesityl oxide unit may be potential leads for further antitumor activity screenings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of structurally diverse chrysin-chromene-spirooxindole hybrids were designed, synthesized via a Knoevenagel/Michael/cyclization of chrysin and isatylidene malononitrile derivatives through utilizing a hybrid pharmacophore approach. The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity, and most of the compounds showed stronger anti-proliferative activity than parent compound chrysin. In particular, compound 3e had the highest cytotoxicity towards A549 cells (IC 50 = 3.15 ± 0.51 μM), and had better selectivity in A549 cells and normal MRC-5 cells. Furthermore, compound 3e could significantly inhibit the proliferation and migration of A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner, as well as induce the apoptosis possibly through mitochondria-mediated caspase-3/8/9 activation and multi-target co-regulation of the p53 signaling pathway. Thus, our results provide in vitro evidence that compound 3e may be a potential candidate for the development of new anti-tumour drugs. Unlabelled Image • The first example of flavonoid-fused spirooxindoles. • A molecular hybridization strategy. • Compound 3e induced cancer cell apoptosis as a potential anticancer agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]