2. Academic Validation
  3. Meroterpenoids from Daphne genkwa shows promising in vitro antitumor activity via inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in A549 cells

Meroterpenoids from Daphne genkwa shows promising in vitro antitumor activity via inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in A549 cells

  • Bioorg Chem. 2023 Nov:140:106803. doi: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106803.
Ren-Fen Ma 1,  Hu Liu 2,  Xue-Chun Zhao 2,  Peipei Shan 3,  Ping Sun 2,  Jun-Juan Xue 4,  Guodong Wei 4,  Hua Zhang 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China; School of Biological Science and Technology, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China.
  • 2 School of Biological Science and Technology, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China.
  • 3 Institute of Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, College of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266021, China.
  • 4 School of Chinese Medicine, Shandong College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yantai 264199, China.
  • 5 School of Biological Science and Technology, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 37659144 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106803
Abstract

Phytochemical investigation into the leaves and branches of Daphne genkwa afforded 25 meroterpenoids (1-16) including nine pairs of enantiomers (1a/1b-8a/8b and 12a/12b), among which 20 compounds have been reported in the present work for the first time. The structures with absolute configurations of the new molecules (excluding 10-13) were established via comprehensive spectroscopic analyses especially electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and Mosher's methods. A preliminary in vitro cell viability assay revealed remarkable cytotoxicities of selective compounds against A549 (lung), Hela (cervical), MDA-MB231 (breast) and MCF-7 (breast) Cancer cells, and compound 8a showed the best inhibitory activity with IC50 values in the range of 3.12-4.67 μM toward the four cell lines. Subsequent in vitro antitumor evaluation of 8a disclosed that it could inhibit the proliferation and metastasis, as well as induce significant Apoptosis and cycle arrest, of A549 cells. Further mechanistic investigations revealed that 8a could exert its antitumor activity via inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Keywords

Antitumor; Daphgenkenol; Daphne genkwa; Meroterpenoid; PI3K/Akt/mTOR.

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