In light of the unique ability of thiazolidinediones to mediate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ-independent activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and suppression of interleukin (IL)-6 production, we conducted a screening of an in-house, thiazolidinedione-based focused compound library to identify novel agents with these dual pharmacological activities. Cell-based assays pertinent to the activation status of AMPK and mammalian homolog of target of rapamycin (i.e., phosphorylation of AMPK and p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase, respectively), and IL-6/IL-6 receptor signaling (i.e., IL-6 production and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 phosphorylation, respectively) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated THP-1 human macrophages were used to screen this compound library, which led to the identification of compound 53 (N-{4-[3-(1-Methylcyclohexylmethyl)-2,4-dioxothiazolidin-5-ylidene-methyl]-phenyl}-4-nitro-3-trifluoromethyl-benzenesulfonamide) as the lead agent. Evidence indicates that this drug-induced suppression of LPS-stimulated IL-6 production was attributable to AMPK activation. Furthermore, compound 53-mediated AMPK activation was demonstrated in C-26 colon adenocarcinoma cells, indicating that it is not a cell line-specific event.

A series of hybrid compounds based on natural products—bile acids and dihydroartemisinin—were prepared by different synthetic methodologies and investigated for their in vitro biological activity against HL‐60 leukemia and HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. Most of these hybrids presented significantly improved antiproliferative activities with respect to dihydroartemisinin and the parent bile acid. The two most potent hybrids of the series exhibited a 10.5‐ and 15.4‐fold increase in cytotoxic activity respect to dihydroartemisinin alone in HL‐60 and HepG2 cells, respectively. Strong evidence that an ursodeoxycholic acid hybrid induced apoptosis was obtained by flow cytometric analysis and western blot analysis.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer is usually subjected to hormone therapy, while triple-negative breast cancer is more formidable and poses a therapeutic challenge. Glucose transporters are potential targets for the development of anticancer drugs. In search of anticancer agents whose effect could be enhanced by a GLUT1 inhibitor WZB117, we found that MK-2206, a potent allosteric Akt inhibitor, when combined with WZB117, showed a synergistic effect on growth inhibition and apoptosis induction in breast cancer cells, including ER(+) MCF-7 cells and triple-negative MDA-MB-231 cells. The combination index values at 50% growth inhibition were 0.45 and 0.21, respectively. Mechanism studies revealed that MK-2206 and WZB117 exert a synergistic cytotoxic effect in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by inhibiting Akt phosphorylation and inducing DNA damage. The combination may also compromise DNA damage repair and ultimately lead to apoptosis. Our findings suggest that the combination of Akt inhibitors and GLUT1 inhibitors could be a novel strategy to combat breast cancer.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy in adults and accounts for 85–90% of all primary liver cancer. Based on the estimation by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2018, liver cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death globally. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), the main active metabolite of artemisinin derivatives, is a well-known drug for the treatment of malaria. Previous studies have demonstrated that DHA exhibits antitumor effects toward a variety of human cancers and has a potential for repurposing as an anticancer drug. However, its short half-life is a concern and may limit the application in cancer therapy. We have reported that UDC-DHA, a hybrid of bile acid ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and DHA, is ∼12 times more potent than DHA against a HCC cell line HepG2. In this study, we found that UDC-DHA was also effective against another HCC cell line Huh-7 with an IC50 of 2.16 μM, which was 18.5-fold better than DHA with an IC50 of 39.96 μM. UDC-DHA was much more potent than the combination of DHA and UDCA at 1:1 molar ratio, suggesting that the covalent linkage rather than a synergism between UDCA and DHA is critical for enhancing DHA potency in HepG2 cells. Importantly, UDC-DHA was much less toxic to normal cells than DHA. UDC-DHA induced G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis. Both DHA and UDC-DHA significantly elevated cellular reactive oxygen species generation but with different magnitude and timing in HepG2 cells; whereas only DHA but not UDC-DHA induced reactive oxygen species in Huh-7 cells. Depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential was detected in both HepG2 and Huh-7 cells and may contribute to the anticancer effect of DHA and UDC-DHA. Furthermore, UDC-DHA was much more stable than DHA based on activity assays and high performance liquid chromatography-MS/MS analysis. In conclusion, UDC-DHA and DHA may exert anticancer actions via similar mechanisms but a much lower concentration of UDC-DHA was required, which could be attributed to a better stability of UDC-DHA. Thus, UDC-DHA could be a better drug candidate than DHA against HCC and further investigation is warranted.

Uncontrolled inflammation may produce massive inflammatory cytokines, in which interleukin 1β (IL-1β) plays a key role, resulting in tissue damage and serious disorders. The activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is one of the major mechanisms in maturation and release of IL-1β. Plectranthus amboinicus is a perennial herb. Several pharmacological activities of natural components and crude extracts from P. amboinicus have been reported including anti-inflammation; however, the underlying mechanism is not clear. Phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate-differentiated THP-1 monocytic leukemia cells were used as a reliable model in this study to examine the effect on inflammasome signaling pathway by PA-F4, an extract from Plectranthus amboinicus . PA-F4 inhibited ATP-induced release of caspase-1, IL-1β, and IL-18 from lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-primed cells. PA-F4 induced a concentration-dependent inhibition of both ASC dimerization and oligomerization in cells under LPS priming plus ATP stimulation. Co-immunoprecipitation of NLRP3 and ASC demonstrated that PA-F4 significantly blunted the interaction between NLRP3 and ASC. Furthermore, PA-F4 completely abolished ATP-induced K + efflux reaction in LPS-primed cells. Taken together, PA-F4 displayed an inhibitory activity on NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Moreover, PA-F4 also inhibited LPS-induced p65 NF-κB activation, suggesting an inhibitory activity on LPS priming step. Further identification showed that rosmarinic acid, cirsimaritin, salvigenin, and carvacrol, four constituents in PA-F4, inhibited LPS-induced IL-6 release. In contrast, rosmarinic acid, cirsimaritin and carvacrol but not salvigenin inhibited ATP-induced caspase-1 release from LPS-primed cells. In conclusion, PA-F4 displayed an inhibitory activity on activation of NLRP3 inflammasome. PA-F4 inhibited LPS priming step through block of p65 NF-κB activation. It also inhibited ATP-induced signaling pathways in LPS-primed cells including the inhibition of both ASC dimerization and oligomerization, K + efflux reaction, and the release reaction of caspase-1, IL-1β, and IL-18. Rosmarinic acid, cirsimaritin, salvigenin, and carvacrol could partly explain PA-F4-mediated inhibitory activity on blocking the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome.

Chemical investigation of the gorgonian coral Junceella fragilis, collected by scuba diving in Taiwan, resulted in the isolation of four new briarane-type diterpenoids, frajunolides A -D (1 -4), along with three known briaranes. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic studies, especially 1-and 2D-NMR as well as HR-MS experiments. The inhibitory effect of all isolated metabolites towards superoxide-anion generation and elastase release by human neutrophils in response to formylmethionylleucyl-phenylalanine/dihydrocytochalasin B (FMLP/CB) was evaluated.Introduction. -The search for novel anti-inflammatory agents from marine organisms has been intense in the last three decades. Marine creatures constitute a large part of the ecosystem, and they recently became a potential source of secondary metabolites of wide structural diversity, being of medicinal and economic interest. The gorgonians of the genus Junceella grow in the Indo-West Pacific regions as whipshaped, unbranched colonies with variable color [1]. They assemble a variety of highly oxidized briarane-type diterpenoidal g-lactones with bicyclic six-and ten-membered rings (3,8-cyclized cembranoids) [2 -5]. Most of these briaranes are endowed with biological activities such as cytotoxic [6 -9] [15 -18].In continuation of our chemical studies of the local fauna [19] [20], we chemically investigated J. fragilis collected off the eastern coast of Taiwan. Chromatographic fractionation of an acetone extract of the title species now led to the isolation of four new briarane-type diterpenoids named frajunolides A -D (1 -4), together with the known constituents junceellolide E (5) [16], umbraculolide A (6) [21], and 11a,20a-epoxy-4-deacetoxyjunceellolide D (7) [15]. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, especially NMR and HR-ESI-MS, and their inhibitory effects on superoxide-anion generation and elastase release by human neutrophils in response to formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine/dihydrocytochalasin B (FMLP/CB) was investigated.

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Human castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is a significant target of clinical research. The use of DNA-damaging agents has a long history in cancer chemotherapy but is limited by their toxicities. The combination with a safer drug can be a strategy in reducing dosage and toxicity while increasing anticancer activity in CRPC treatment. Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors are used to treat erectile dysfunction through the selective inhibition of PDE5 that is responsible for cGMP degradation in the corpus cavernosum. Several studies have reported that PDE5 inhibitors display protective effect against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. The combinatory treatment of CRPC with doxorubicin and PDE5 inhibitors has been studied accordingly. The data demonstrated that sildenafil or vardenafil (two structure-related PDE5 inhibitors) but not tadalafil (structure-unrelated to sildenafil) sensitized doxorubicin-induced apoptosis in CRPC cells with deteriorating the down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members, including Bcl-xL and Mcl-1, and amplifying caspase activation. Homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) DNA repair systems were inhibited in the apoptotic sensitization through detection of nuclear foci formation of Rad51 and DNA end-binding of Ku80. PDE5 knockdown to mimic the exposure to PDE5 inhibitors did not reproduce apoptotic sensitization, suggesting a PDE5-independent mechanism. Not only doxorubicin, sildenafil combined with other inhibitors of topoisomerase II but not topoisomerase I also triggered apoptotic sensitization. In conclusion, the data suggest that sildenafil and vardenafil induce PDE5-independent apoptotic sensitization to doxorubicin (or other topoisomerase II inhibitors) through impairment of both HR and NHEJ repair systems that are evident by a decrease of nuclear Rad51 levels and their foci formation in the nucleus, and an inhibition of Ku80 DNA end-binding capability. The combinatory treatment may enable an important strategy for anti-CRPC development.