Shikonin N-benzyl matrinic acid ester derivatives as novel telomerase inhibitors with potent activity against lung cancer cell lines
- Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2022 Feb 1:57:128503. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2021.128503.
- 1. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
- 2. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
- 3. Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
- 4. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
- 5. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
- 6. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
In this study, a series of novel shikonin N-benzyl matrinic acid ester derivatives (PMMB-299-PMMB-310) were synthesized and tested for their ability to inhibit the proliferation of Cancer cells. Compared with shikonin and matrine, some of the ester derivatives were found to exhibit better anti-proliferative activity against seven different Cancer cell lines, with less cytotoxicity toward non-cancerous cells. The strongest anti-proliferative activity was exhibited by PMMB-302, which had an IC50 value of 2.71 μM against A549 cells. The compound caused cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and induced Apoptosis. Effects on the expression of apoptosis-related molecules such as Bcl2, Bcl-xL, Caspase-3, caspase-9 and FADD suggested that PMMB-302 has tumor suppressive roles in lung Cancer cells. In addition, PMMB-302 inhibited expression of Telomerase core proteins, dyskerin and NHP2, and telomerase Reverse Transcriptase RNA. Moreover, molecular docking of PMMB-302 was subsequently conducted to determine the probable binding mode with Telomerase. Taken together, the results indicate that PMMB-302 acts as a tumor suppressor in lung Cancer cells by negatively regulating Telomerase expression.