Antitumour Quinones

Abstract

Quinones still comprise one of the largest classes of antitumour agents. For example, the anthracycline antibiotics are among the most utilised anticancer agents ever developed. Many other quinones were tested for their anticancer activity. Though there are general and well-established mechanisms for quinone toxicity, the exact contribution of the quinone moiety to the cytotoxic effect remains frequently uncertain. However, DNA represents the main target for quinoid antitumour agents and most of them belong to the groups of DNA intercalating and/or alkylating agents. But also other cellular structures such as heat shock protein 90 or telomerase have been identified as targets for quinoid compounds.

O-naphthoquinone isolated from Capraria biflora L. induces selective cytotoxicity in tumor cell lines

“…Quinones are secondary metabolites found in several plants and present a variety of biological effects, including anticancer, antibacterial, and antimalarial effects. In particular, naphthoquinones, which include biflorin, belong to a promising group of compounds with antitumor properties (Asche, 2005). Moreover, quinone moieties are present in many drugs, such as anthracyclines, daunorubicin, doxorubicin, mitomycin, mitoxantrone, and saintopin, which are clinically used in the treatment of solid cancers (Verma, 2006).…”

The synthesis of thioglucosides substituted 1,4-naphthoquinones and their conversion in oxathiane fused quinone-thioglucoside conjugates

“…This group of compounds exhibits antibacterial, 2 cardioprotective 3 and anticancer activities [4][5] and provide structures regarded as perspectives in medicinal chemistry. Quinones exert their actions through the generation of reactive oxygen species and modulation of redox signaling radical reactions: as prooxidants; as antioxidants and as electrophiles, forming covalent bonds with tissue nucleophiles.…”

Preparation and biological evaluation of novel acylhydrazide derivatives of 2,3-dichloronaphthoquinone

“…2 1,4-Naphthoquinone 1 encompasses the quinone pharmacophore which is typically associated with most of the biological activity of similar molecules. 3 Our interest in naphthoquinones was stimulated by the literature which is abundant with research involving the isolation and subsequent biological testing of naphthoquinones from natural products and novel synthetic naphthoquinone derivatives. 1 The quinonoid anticancer drugs such as mitomycin C, daunorubicin, doxorubicin and mitoxantrone have been used in the treatment of various types of cancers, including solid tumors.…”