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Heparanase is an endoglycosidase involved in remodeling the extracellular matrix and thereby in regulating multiple cellular processes and biological activities. It cleaves heparan sulfate (HS) side chains of HS proteoglycans into smaller fragments and hence regulates tissue morphogenesis, differentiation, and homeostasis. Heparanase is overexpressed in various carcinomas, sarcomas, and hematological malignancies, and its upregulation correlates with increased tumor size, tumor angiogenesis, enhanced metastasis, and poor prognosis. In contrast, knockdown or inhibition of heparanase markedly attenuates tumor progression, further underscoring the potential of anti-heparanase therapy. Heparanase inhibitors were employed to interfere with tumor progression in preclinical studies, and selected heparin mimetics are being examined in clinical trials. However, despite tremendous efforts, the discovery of heparanase inhibitors with high clinical benefit and minimal adverse effects remains a therapeutic challenge. This review discusses the key roles of heparanase in cancer progression focusing on the status of natural, chemically modified, and synthetic heparanase inhibitors in various types of malignancies.

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Synthesis of quinoxalines from o‐phenylenediamines (o‐PDs) with electronically diversified 1,2‐diketones and α‐bromoketones via simple cyclocondensation reaction using an heterogeneous nano‐ϒ‐Fe2O3‐SO3H catalyst has been reported under solvent free condition. Low cost, easy workup, high yield, operational simplicity, less reaction time, environmentally benign nature and catalyst is magnetically retrievable and can be reused up to five catalytic cycles without significant loss in the product yields are the noteworthy features of this protocol.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by a series of events initiated by the production and aggregation of the amyloid β‐protein (Aβ). In the early stages of the disease, Aβ is released in a soluble form then progressively forms oligomeric, multimeric, and fibrillar aggregates, triggering neurodegeneration. Thus, development of inhibitors that initiate reverse Aβ aggregation is thought to be a logical approach in treating AD. In this context, we developed β‐aminopyrrolidine containing 12 mer peptide 3 which is very potent in inhibiting the Aβ aggregation and also reducing Aβ(42)‐induced cytotoxicity.

Design of chemically novel, biologically potent small heterocyclic molecules with anticancer activities, which targets the enzyme heparanase has gained prominent clinical interest. We have synthesized a novel class of carboxamide derivatives by coupling various substituted aromatic acid hydrazides and triazoleamine with pyrrolidine carboxylic acid by using coupling agents. The synthesized compounds are characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as FT-IR, HRMS and NMR. These compounds are investigated for cytotoxicity on different cancer cell lines and heparanase inhibitory activity. Most of them showed moderate heparanase inhibitory activity and good cytotoxicity.

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