Antiproliferative and Antiangiogenic Properties of New VEGFR-2-targeting 2-thioxobenzo[g]quinazoline Derivatives (In Vitro)

A series of 3-ethyl(methyl)-2-thioxo-2,3-dihydrobenzo[g]quinazolines (1–17) were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated in vitro for their antiangiogenesis VEGFR-2-targeting, antiproliferative, and antiapoptotic activities against breast MCF-7 and liver HepG2 cells. Flow cytometry was used to determine cancer-cell cycle distributions, and apoptosis was detected using annexin-V-FITC (V) and propidium iodide (PI) dyes. Fluorescence microscopy, in combination with Hoechst staining was used to detect DNA fragmentation. Most of the tested benzo[g]quinazolines demonstrated promising activity (IC₅₀ = 8.8 ± 0.5–10.9 ± 0.9 μM) and (IC₅₀ = 26.0 ± 2.5–40.4 ± 4.1 μM) against MCF-7 and HepG2, respectively. Doxorubicin was used as a reference drug. Compounds 13–15 showed the highest activity against both cancer cell lines. Differential effects were detected by cell-cycle analysis, indicating similarities in the actions of 13 and 14 against both MCF7 and HepG2, involving the targeting of G1 and S phases, respectively. Compound 15 showed similar indices against both cells, indicating that its cytotoxicity toward the examined cancer cells could be unselective. Interestingly, 14 and 15 showed the highest apoptosis (30.76% and 25.30%, respectively) against MCF-7. The DNA fragmentation results agreed well with the apoptosis detected by flow cytometry. In terms of antiangiogenesis activity, as derived from VEGFR-2 inhibition, 13 and 15 were comparable to sorafenib and effected 1.5- and 1.4-fold inhibition relative to the standard sorafenib. A docking study was conducted to investigate the interaction between the synthesized benzo[g]quinazolines and the ATP-binding site within the catalytic domain of VEGFR-2.     

Heat capacity and electrical resistivity of some lanthanide-nickel (LnNi5) compounds between 5 and 300°K

Results of heat capacity measurements for LnNi₅ compounds with Ln  La, Ce, Nd and Gd are presented for the temperature range 5–300°K. Electrical resistivities are given for the Ce, Nd and Gd compounds over the same temperature range. The heat capacities are consistent with the previously observed magnetic behavior of LaNi₅, CeNi₅ and NdNi₅. The La compound is a Pauli paramagnet and its heat capacity behavior is that of a solid exhibiting only vibrational and electronic excitation. CeNi₅ remains paramagnetic to 4°K and its C_p behavior closely resembles that of LaNi₅. NdNi₅ exhibits a A-type thermal anomaly peaking at 6·4°K, which is ascribed to the break-up of ferromagnetism. It also shows excess heat capacity at higher temperatures resulting from excitation in the crystal field spectrum. Results for GdNi₅, are unusual. Magnetic entropy is introduced over an anomalously wide range of temperature. The process culminates in two λ-type thermal anomalies peaking at 29·8 and 30·6°K, suggesting that the development of the cooperative phase occurs in two stages. The magnetic transformations are also evident in the resistivity-temperature behavior of NdNi₅ and GdNi₅, the loss of the spin-disorder resistivity being readily apparent in the former material. The usual thermodynamic properties are computed from the heat capacity data. Magnetic entropies of NdNi₅ and GdNi₅ at 300°K are observed to be 95 and 86 per cent, respectively, of R In(2J + 1).     

Regioselectivity and regiospecificity of benzoxazinone (2-isopropyl-4H-3,1-benzoxazinone) derivatives toward nitrogen nucleophiles and evaluation of antimicrobial activity

A novel group of 6-iodoquinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives was prepared. The reaction of the benzoxazinone 3 with various nitrogen nucleophiles such as formamide and hydrazine hydrate and also the reaction of the isopropylquinazolinone 4 with hydrazonyl chloride have been shown to proceed with a high degree of regioselectivity at C(2). Spiro heterocycles have been found to play fundamental roles in biological processes and have exhibited diversified biological activity and pharmacological and therapeutical properties; thus reaction of acetohydrazides 10a–c afforded the spiro compounds 11a–c. The acetohydrazide derivative 7 reacted with carbon electrophiles such as acetylacetone, ethyl acetoacetate, acid chlorides, and benzaldehyde to give some interesting heterocyclic compounds 12–16, respectively. The structures of all the synthesized compounds were inferred by infrared, ¹H NMR, and mass spectra as well as elemental analyses. The antimicrobial activities of some of the synthesized products were preliminarily evaluated.     

6-Iodo-2-isopropyl-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one as building block in heterocyclic synthesis

As a part of ongoing studies in the synthesis of a variety of heterocycles of biological importance, we report here an efficient and convenient method for the synthesis of novel compounds from 6-iodo-2-isopropyl-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one 1 as building block. The reaction of benzoxazinone 1 with various reagents such as diethylmalonate, sodium azide, and phosphorus pentasulfide yielded the compounds 2–5. The behavior of benzothiazin-4-thione 5 toward formamide and hydrazine hydrate was investigated, forming the compounds 6 and 7. The reaction of quinazolinone derivative 8 with β-D-glucose pentaacetate, ethyl 2-methyl-5-((1S,2R,3R)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroxybutyl)furan-3-carboxylate, epichlorohydrin and benzenesulphonyl chloride afforded quinazolinone derivatives 9, 10, 12, and 13 respectively. The reaction of quinazolinone derivative 10 with acetic anhydride resulted in formation of the acylated compound 11. The behavior of quinazolinylacetohydrazide derivative 14 toward carbon electrophiles^[16 El-Hashash, M. A.; El-Naggar, A. M.; El-Bordany, E. A.; Marzouk, M. I.; Nawar, T. M. S. Regioselectivity and regiospecificity of benzoxazinone (2-isopropyl4H-3,1-benzoxazinone) derivatives toward nitrogen nucleophiles and evaluation of antimicrobial activity. Synth. Commun. 2016, 46(14), 1230–1241.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]^] has been investigated by its reaction with ethyl benzoylacetate, potassium thiocyanate, and phenyl isothiocyanate, affording the quinazolinone derivatives 15, 16, and 18, respectively. Treatment of compound 16 with sodium hydroxide followed by hydrochloric acid yielded the mercapto-triazole derivative 17. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis, infrared (IR), ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and mass spectra. The antimicrobial activities of some of the synthesized compounds were preliminarily evaluated.     

Synthesis and antitumor activity of some nitrogen heterocycles bearing pyrimidine moiety

Synthesis of novel pyrimidine derivatives 4-16 was accomplished by heterocyclization of polarized system, for example, Chalcone. Claisen-Schmidt condensation of 2-acetyl naphthalene with 4-(N, N-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde) afforded chalcone 3 , which was utilized for synthesis various pyrimidine derivatives by treatment with urea, thiourea, and guandine hydrochloride in ethanolic sodium hydroxide solution. The reactivity of the synthesized pyrimidine derivatives towards different nucleophilic and electrophilic reagent were examined. The constructions of the newly synthesized pyrimidine derivatives were elucidated from their spectral and elemental analysis. All the synthesized compounds were tested in vitro for their anticancer activities against HePG-2 and MCF-7 cell lines. Some of them posses a wide range of pharmacological activity. Finally, a molecular docking study was conducted to reveal the probable interaction with the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) active site.     

Bayesian inference with optimal maps

We present a new approach to Bayesian inference that entirely avoids Markov chain simulation, by constructing a map that pushes forward the prior measure to the posterior measure. Existence and uniqueness of a suitable measure-preserving map is established by formulating the problem in the context of optimal transport theory. We discuss various means of explicitly parameterizing the map and computing it efficiently through solution of an optimization problem, exploiting gradient information from the forward model when possible. The resulting algorithm overcomes many of the computational bottlenecks associated with Markov chain Monte Carlo. Advantages of a map-based representation of the posterior include analytical expressions for posterior moments and the ability to generate arbitrary numbers of independent posterior samples without additional likelihood evaluations or forward solves. The optimization approach also provides clear convergence criteria for posterior approximation and facilitates model selection through automatic evaluation of the marginal likelihood. We demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the approach on nonlinear inverse problems of varying dimension, involving the inference of parameters appearing in ordinary and partial differential equations.     

NMR study of Li+ ion dynamics in the perovskite Li(3x)La(1/3-x)NbO3

(7)Li and (6)Li nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments are carried out on the perovskite Li(3x)La(1/3-x)NbO(3). The results are compared to those obtained on the titanate Li(3x)La(2/3-x)TiO3 (LLTO) in order to investigate the effect, on the lithium ion dynamics, of the total substitution of Nb(5+) for Ti(4+) in the B-site of the ABO(3) perovskites. The XRD patterns analysis reveals that this substitution leads to a change in the distribution of the La(3+) ions in the structure. La(3+) ions distribution is very important, in regard to ionic conductivity, because these immobile ions can be considered as obstacles for the long-range Li+ motion. If compared to the titanates, the compounds of the niobate solid solution have a bigger unit cell volume, a smaller number of La(3+) ions, and a higher number of vacancies. These should favor the motion of the mobile ions into the structure. This is not experimentally observed. Therefore, the interactions between the mobile species and their environment greatly influence their mobility. (7)Li and (6)Li NMR relaxation time experiments reveal that the Li relaxation mechanism is not dominated by quadrupolar interaction. (7)Li NMR spectra reveal the presence of different Li+ ion sites. Some Li+ ions reside in an isotropic environment with no distortion, some others reside in weakly distorted environments. T(1), T(1)(rho), and T(2) experiments allow us to evidence two motions of Li+. As in LLTO, T(1) probes a fast motion of the Li+ ions inside the A-cage of the perovskite structure and T(1)(rho) a slow motion of these ions from A-cage to A-cage. At variance with what has been observed in LLTO, these different Li+ ions can be differentiated through the spin-lattice relaxation times, T(1) and T(1)(rho), as well as through the transverse relaxation time, T(2).     

A novel 1,10-phenanthroline-sensitive membrane sensor for potentiometric determination of Hg(II) and Cu(II)cations

Preparation, characterization, and applications of a 1,10-phenanthrolinium cation (phenH(+))-sensitive potentiometric sensor are described. The sensor incorporates a liquid polymeric membrane consisting of phenH-tetraphenylborate, nitrophenyloctyl ether, and poly(vinyl chloride) as ion exchanger, plasticizer, and polymeric support, respectively. The sensor exhibits a fast and Nernstian response to phenH(+) over the concentration range of 6 x 10(-6)-2 x 10(-4) M with a monovalent cationic slope of 58.0+/-0.5 mV/log[phenH(+)] in acetate buffer of pH 4.2. The sensor is successfully applied to the monitoring of the potentiometric titration of Hg(II) and Cu(II) ions with phen solution in the presence of citrate and acetate buffers of pH 4.2, respectively. Sharp inflection breaks (90-180 mV) at 1:1 (metal:phen reaction) are obtained in the presence of chloride and thiocyanate background. This stoichiometry is explained by the formation of insoluble [HgCl(2)(phen)], [Hg(SCN)(2)(phen)], and [Cu(SCN)(2)(phen)] complexes. Optimization of each titration and the effect of foreign ions are evaluated. The method offers the advantages of adequate sensitivity, accuracy, and selectivity for the determination of mercury and copper in pharmaceutical, rock, and tea samples. The results are in good agreement with those obtained using the standard atomic absorption spectrometric and United States Pharmacopeial methods.     

A new pregnane glycoside from Gomphocarpus fruticosus growing in Egypt

Phytochemical investigation of Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) Ait. of Egyptian origin afforded the new pregnane glycoside lineolon-3-O-[β-D-oleandropyranosyl-(1–4)-β-D-cymaropyranosyl-(1–4)-β-D-cymaropyranoside], along with six known compounds. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic evidences derived from 1D, 2D NMR experiments, mass spectrometry and by comparing their physical and spectroscopic data to literature. These included the triterpenoids 3β-taraxerol, 3β-taraxerol acetate and betulinic acid, which are identified for the first time in G. fruticosus and the cardenolides uzarigenin, gomphoside and calotropin.     

Hydrothermal preparation and characterization of ZnFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of multi‐substituted imidazoles and study of their anti‐inflammatory activity

Nanoparticles are key focus of research for a wide range of novel applications. As such, ZnFe₂O₄ magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized hydrothermally and characterized via scanning and transmission electron microscopies, powder X‐ray diffraction, energy‐dispersive X‐ray and infrared spectroscopies, thermogravimetric analysis and magnetic measurements. They were used as a robust catalyst for the synthesis of a series of biologically active multi‐substituted imidazoles using a multicomponent reaction by the reaction of benzil with various aromatic aldehydes, ammonium acetate and aliphatic amines (N,N‐dimethyl‐1,3‐propanediamine and 1‐amino‐2‐propanol) under solvent‐free conditions. The key advantages of this method are shorter reaction times, very high yield and ease of operation. The thermally and chemically stable, benign and economical catalyst was easily recovered using an external magnet and reused in at least five successive runs without an appreciable loss of activity. All of these novel synthesized compounds were characterized from spectral data and their purities were checked using thin‐layer chromatography, giving one spot. Furthermore, the prepared compounds were tested for their anti‐inflammatory activity.