Two series of structurally related organoselenium compounds designed by fusing the anticancer agent methyl(phenyl)selane into the tubulin polymerization inhibitors isocombretastatins or phenstatins were synthesized and evaluated for antiproliferative activity. Most of these selenium containing hybrids exhibited potent cytotoxicity against a panel of cancel cell lines, with IC values in the submicromolar concentration range. Among them, 11a, the 3-methylseleno derivative of isocombretastatin A-4 (isoCA-4) represented the most active compound with IC values of 2-34 nM against 12 cancer cell lines, including two drug-resistant cell lines. Importantly, its phosphate salt, 11ab, inhibited tumor growth in xenograft mice models with inhibitory rate of 72.9% without apparent toxicity, which was better than the reference compounds isoCA-4P (inhibitory rate 52.2%) and CA-4P (inhibitory rate 47.6%). Mechanistic studies revealed that 11a is a potent tubulin polymerization inhibitor, which could arrest cell cycle at G/M phase and induce apoptosis along with the decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential. In summary, 11a could serve as a promising lead for the development of highly efficient anticancer agents.

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Twenty-eight novel selenium-containing 4-anilinoquinazoline derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as antiproliferative agents. Most of them had significant in vitro activities, particularly for compounds 23a, 25a, and 25d, which also exhibited the most potent antitumor activities against cisplatin-resistant cell lines and the doxorubicin-resistant cell lines, good selectivity toward normal cells, and obvious inhibitory effect on migration of A549 cell lines. Further mechanistic studies revealed that 23a, 25a, and 25d induce G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis in A549 cells, which was associated with a collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential, alterations in the expression of some cell cycle-related and apoptosis-related proteins, and increasing the intracellular ROS level. Finally, compounds 23a, 25a, and 25d also effectively inhibited the tumor growth in the A549 xenograft model without obvious hints of toxicity. Taken together, these in vitro and in vivo results suggest that 23a, 25a, and 25d may be promising microtubule-stabilizing agents and can be used as a promising lead for the development of new antitumor agents.

In this paper, a series of millepachine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated as tubulin polymerization inhibitors. The optimal compound 5i, (3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)(5-methoxy-2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromen-8-yl)methanone, displayed the highest cytotoxicity toward a series of cancer cells (ranging from 18 to 45 nM of IC). Further investigation revealed that 5i significantly repressed the multidrug resistant cells (A549/CDDP, A2780/TAX) and had little cytotoxicity towards human normal cells (HLF, BJ). Cellular mechanism studies demonstrated that 5i induced G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis, which was associated with the collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Additionally, western blot analysis showed that 5i could change the levels of cell cycle-related proteins (e.g. Cyclin B1, Cdc25c, Cdc2) and some apoptosis-related proteins (e.g. Bax, Bad, Bcl-2, Bcl-xl). Finally, 5i effectively inhibited the growth of xenograft tumours of A549 cells in nude mice.

Inspired by the potent inhibition activity of phenstatin and millepachine against cancer cell growth, a series of new benzophenone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated as tubulin polymerization inhibitors.

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