Determination of oxaliplatin in human plasma and plasma ultrafiltrate by graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry

A method for sensitive determination of the anti-cancer agent oxaliplatin in human plasma and human plasma ultrafiltrate (pUF) is presented. The method is based on the quantification of platinum by graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry, with Zeeman correction and an atomisation temperature of 2,700°C. Sample pretreatment involves dilution of the samples with a solution containing 0.15 mol L^–1 NaCl and 0.20 mol L^–1 HCl in water. Validation was performed in accordance with the most recent FDA guidelines for bioanalytical method validation. All results were within requirements. The validated ranges of quantification were 0.10–400 mol L^–1 for human pUF and 0.50–400 mol L^–1 for plasma. The assay is now successfully used to support pharmacokinetic studies of cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin.     

Polyelectrolyte microcapsules templated on poly(styrene sulfonate)-doped CaCO3 particles for loading and sustained release of daunorubicin and doxorubicin

A strategy to incorporate and release anti-cancer drugs of daunorubicin (DNR) and doxorubicin (DOX) in preformed microcapsules is introduced, which is based on charge interaction mechanism. Oppositely charged poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) were assembled onto PSS doped-CaCO₃ colloidal particles in a layer-by-layer manner to yield core-shell particles. After removal of the carbonate cores, hollow microcapsules with entrapped PSS were fabricated, which showed spontaneous loading ability of positively charged DNR and DOX. The drug loading was confirmed quantitatively by observations under confocal laser scanning microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and scanning force microscopy. Quantification of the drug loading was performed under different conditions, revealing that a larger amount of drugs could be incorporated at higher drug feeding concentrations and higher salt concentrations. However, putting additional polyelectrolyte layers on the microcapsules after core removal resulted in weaker drug loading efficiency. The drug release behaviors from the microcapsules with different layer numbers were studied too, revealing a diffusion controlled release mechanism at the initial stage (4 h).     

Novel titanocene anti-cancer drugs derived from fulvenes and titanium dichloride

Starting from 6-(p−N,N-dimethylanilinyl)fulvene (1a) or 6-(pentamethylphenyl)fulvene (1b) [1,2-di(cyclopentadienyl)-1,2-di(p−N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)ethanediyl] titanium dichloride (2a) and [1,2-di(cyclopentadienyl)-1,2-bis(pentamethylphenyl)ethanediyl] titanium dichloride (2b) and their corresponding dithiocyanato complexes (3a, 3b) were synthesized. Titanocene 2b did not show a cytotoxic effect, but when 2a was tested against pig kidney carcinoma cells (LLC-PK) or human ovarian carcinoma cells (A2780/cp70) inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀) of 2.7 × 10⁻⁴ and 1.9 ×  10⁻⁴ M, respectively, were observed.     

Bioactive Fluorenes. Part II. Unprecedented biologically active thiazole derivatives based-2,7-dichlorofluorene as competent DHFR inhibitors: Design,synthesis, and molecular docking approaches

In this study, a new series of (4-(2,7-dichloro-9H-fluoren-4-yl)thiazol-yl)acetamide derivatives was synthesized, and the new heterocycles were completely characterized, evaluated for their antimicrobial activity, and screened for cytotoxic activity against human lung carcinoma (A-549) and human breast carcinoma (MCF-7) cell lines. A molecular docking study was undertaken to identify the possible mode of action of the synthesized compounds, which suggested binding interactions with the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) active sites.Most of the synthesized compounds displayed meaningful activity against A-549 and MCF-7 cell lines when compared to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which was used as a reference drug. Furthermore, some of the prepared compounds exhibited potent antibacterial and antifungal activities. The highly pronounced biological activities of the compounds under investigation offer such species as promising future drug prospects which may find applications in the fields of biological and medicinal sciences.     

Synthesis and cytotoxicity evaluation of diastereoisomers and N-terminal analogues of tubulysin-U

Tubulysins are potent anti-mitotic natural compounds and a scalable and efficient synthetic route for generation of its analogues has been developed and extended to the synthesis of diastereoisomers and N-terminal analogues of tubulysin-U. Structure–activity-relationship studies on these synthetic analogues reaffirmed the significance of native stereochemistry of tubulysins for optimal biological activity and cytotoxicity. However, while modification of Tup stereochemistry has only minor effect on the tubulysins cytotoxicity, Tuv stereochemistry is critically important and modification of either Tuv stereocentre produced a dramatic drop in cytotoxicity.     

Functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles templated by pyridinium ionic liquid for hydrophilic and hydrophobic drug release application

Chemotherapy is the most common treatment for all cancer patients but this treatment poses many side effects due to lack of drug’s selectivity. To overcome this problem, utilizing a better and more effective delivery agent is the solution. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) emerged as a promising platform in development of drug delivery agent. This is due to its desirable properties such as tunable pores, large surface area, good biocompatibility and easy functionalization. Furthermore, these properties can be tuned through the utilization of alternative template such as pyridinium ionic liquid. Besides, by employing surface functionalization, the effectiveness of MSNs as drug delivery agent may also increase. This work reported the usage of 1-hexadecylpyridinium bromide ionic liquid as template for MSNs production and the surface of MSNs was then further functionalized via post – grafting method in order to obtain MSN – NH₂, MSN – SH and MSN – COOH as drug carrier, respectively. These functionalized MSNs were then used to study the drug loading and drug release of hydrophilic drug, gemcitabine and hydrophobic drug, quercetin. For quercetin, MSN-NH₂ had the highest drug loading percentage (72%) and slowest release (14%) in 48 h while for gemcitabine, it was found that MSN-COOH had the highest drug loading percentage (45%) and slowest release (15%) in 48 h. Based on the results, it is suggested that mesoporous silica nanoparticle with surface functionalization has suitable properties for controlled drug release which gives constant release behavior over a period of time to avoid repeated administration of drug where the drug is administered at a fixed dosage and regular time interval.     

Design and anti-tumor evaluation of new platinum(II) and copper(II) complexes of nitrogen compounds containing selenium moieties

Three ligands containing selenium were synthesized by refluxing 3-acetylcoumarin (AC), 3-acetylbenzocoumarin (ABC) and acetobenzylsulfonamide (ABS) with selenosemicarbazide. The synthesized ligands were reacted with two metal salts namely; copper(II) nitrate and potassium teterachloroplatinate(II). The obtained copper and platinium complexes were characterized by different spectroscopic techniques including, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR, UV–visible, ESR and MS. The biological activity of newly synthesized compounds were evaluated using different testes like in-vitro antimicrobial screening, anticancer, glutathione-S-transferase and Catalase activities. The in-vitro cytotoxicity against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), human liver cancer cell line (HepG-2) and human colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) and Human normal melanocytes (HFB 4) was investigated, where some of the tested compounds were equipotent, while the others were more potent compared with 5-flurouracil and cis-platin as reference drugs. The obtanined results showed that the best results were for copper(II) complexes and especially for benzocoumarin ligand.     

改性柑橘果胶的制备、表征及抗癌活性

采用琼脂糖凝胶电泳、比旋度测试、HPSEC-RID、IR、¹H NMR、¹³C NMR、高碘酸氧化及甲基化分析等手段对改性柑橘果胶(MCP)进行了分析, 结果表明, MCP是一种均一性多糖, 分子量约为21000~66000, 糖醛酸质量分数为81.0%, 酯化度为2.13%. MCP的中性单糖残基主要包括鼠李糖(Rha)、阿拉伯糖(Ara)、木糖(Xyl)和半乳糖(Gal)等, 其摩尔比约为1.0∶1.5∶1.4∶1.3, 主链包括HG和RG, 分支结构含有末端Gal, Xyl和Ara. 选用3种小鼠移植性肿瘤模型对MCP的抗肿瘤生长活性进行研究. 结果表明, MCP对肝癌H22细胞有较强抑制作用, 高剂量下抑制率可达47.8%; 对宫颈癌U14细胞的抑制率在高剂量及中等剂量下分别达到36.5%和38.5%; 对肉瘤S180没有抑制活性. MCP的抗肝癌和抗宫颈癌活性为首次发现.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of oxoapratoxin E and its C30 epimer

30R- and 30S-oxazoline analogues of apratoxin E have been prepared with late-stage formation of an oxazoline ring. These two compounds have a potent inhibitory effect on HCT-116 cell proliferation with IC₅₀ values of 345 and 638 nM, respectively. These results suggest that apratoxin E oxazoline bioisosteres are approximately 6-fold less potent than their thiazoline parent compounds. A positive impact of the 30R conformation on antiproliferative activity was also observed, with approximately 2-fold enhancement when compared to the 30S epimer.     

联苯并咪唑化合物的合成、表征与抗癌活性

以联苯四胺、芳香醛为原料,DMF为溶剂,KI为催化剂,在空气存在下回流反应,合成了6种新的联苯并咪唑化合物,产率较高(58.4%～98.0%),其结构用IR、1HNMR、13CNMR、MS、元素分析等测试技术进行了表征。适宜的合成条件是:反应温度150℃,反应时间12h。初步测试表明,目标化合物对培养人肝癌Bel-7402细胞生长有一定抑制活性。