Abraham Vaisberg

Ten new thiosemicarbazone derivatives, furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (1), 3-methyl-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (2), 5-hydroxymethyl-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (3), 5-trifluoromethyl-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (4), 5-nitro-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (5), 5-phenyl-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (6), 5-(2-fluorophenyl)-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (7), 5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (8), 5-(1-naphthyl)-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (9), and 5-(1H-Pyrazol-5-yl)-furan-2-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (10) were synthesized by condensing thiosemicarbazide with the respective furan-2-carbaldehyde in methanol. The prepared compounds were characterized by spectroscopic studies (FT-IR and NMR) and electrospray mass spectrometry. The molecular structures of 2, 6, 7, and 8 have also been determined by X-ray crystallography. Compounds 2, 6, and 7 crystallize in the E conformation about the N1-C6, N1-C11, and N1-C11 bonds, respectively, while 8 adopts the Z conformation about the N1-C12 bond with the presence of an intramolecular N2-HO2 hydrogen bond. All prepared thiosemicarbazone derivatives were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and antitumor activities against Staphylococcus aureus strains, Candida albicans/Candida tropicalis fungi, and seven human tumor cell lines (HuTu80, H460, DU145, M-14, HT-29, MCF-7, and LNCaP), respectively. The antioxidant activity was also studied by the DPPH assay. Compound 5 exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC700699 (MIC=1μg/mL) compared to the nitrofurantoin and gentamicin reference drugs (MIC=125 and 10->100μg/mL, respectively). Compound 4 was ten times less active than amphotericin B (MIC=5μg/mL) against Candida albicans (ATCC90028 and ATCC10231), while 1 exhibited a moderate effect of scavenging of DPPH radical (IC₅₀=40.9μg/mL) in comparison to ascorbic acid reference compound (IC₅₀=22.0μg/mL). Among all the studied thiosemicarbazones, 5 showed a higher cytotoxic activity (IC₅₀=13.3627.73μ) in relation to the other tested compounds (IC₅₀=34.84>372.34μ) against all tested cell lines, except the LNCaP cell line, exhibiting its highest antiproliferative activity (IC₅₀=13.36μ) on the HuTu80cell line. Besides, 8 and 9 exhibited high antitumor activity (IC₅₀=13.31 and 7.69μ, respectively) against the LNCaP cells.

Eight new thiosemicarbazone derivatives, 6-(1-trifluoroethoxy)pyridine-3-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (1), 6-(4′-fluorophenyl)pyridine-3-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (2), 5-chloro-pyridine-3-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (3), 2-chloro-5-bromo-pyridine-3-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (4), 6-(3′,4′-dimethoxyphenyl)pyridine-3-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (5), 2-chloro-5-fluor-pyridine-3-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone, (6), 5-iodo-pyridine-3-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (7), and 6-(3′,5′-dichlorophenyl)pyridine-3-carbaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (8) were synthesized, from the reaction of the corresponding pyridine-3-carbaldehyde with thiosemicarbazide. The synthesized compounds were characterized by ESI-Mass, UV-Vis, IR, and NMR (¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁹F) spectroscopic techniques. Molar mass values and spectroscopic data are consistent with the proposed structural formulas. The molecular structure of 7 has been also confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction. In the solid state 7 exists in the E conformation about the N2-N3 bond; 7 also presents the E conformation in solution, as evidenced by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The in vitro antitumor activity of the synthesized compounds was studied on six human tumor cell lines: H460 (lung large cell carcinoma), HuTu80 (duodenum adenocarcinoma), DU145 (prostate carcinoma), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), M-14 (amelanotic melanoma), and HT-29 (colon adenocarcinoma). Furthermore, toxicity studies in 3T3 normal cells were carried out for the prepared compounds. The results were expressed as IC₅₀ and the selectivity index (SI) was calculated. Biological studies revealed that 1 (IC₅₀ = 3.36 to 21.35 μM) displayed the highest antiproliferative activity, as compared to the other tested thiosemicarbazones (IC₅₀ = 40.00 to >582.26 μM) against different types of human tumor cell lines. 1 was found to be about twice as cytotoxic (SI = 1.82) than 5-fluorouracile (5-FU) against the M14 cell line, indicating its efficiency in inhibiting the cell growth even at low concentrations. A slightly less efficient activity was shown by 1 towards the HuTu80 and MCF7 tumor cell lines, as compared to that of 5-FU. Therefore, 1 can be considered as a promising candidate to be used as a pharmacological agent, since it presents significant activity and was found to be more innocuous than the 5-FU anticancer drug against the 3T3 mouse embryo fibroblast cells.

Fascioliasis is an infectious parasitic disease distributed globally and caused by the liver flukes Fasciola hepatica or F. gigantica. This neglected tropical disease affects both animals and humans and it represents a latent public health problem due to the significant economic losses related to animal husbandry. For decades, Triclabendazole has been the unique anti-Fasciola drug that can effectively treat this disease. However, triclabendazole resistance in Fascioliasis has been more recently reported around the world, and thus the discovery of novel drugs is an urgent need. The aim of this study was to investigate the fasciocidal properties of 400 compounds contained in the Pathogen Box. The first stage of the screening was carried out by measuring the fasciocidal activity on metacercariae at a concentration of 33 µM of each compound (standard dose). Subsequently the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of the most active compounds (n=33) were assayed on metacercariae and resulted in 13 compounds with IC₅₀ ≤ 10 µM. The second stage queried these compounds at 33 µM on adult flukes where seven showed high mortality rates > 50%. Four hit compounds were selected based on predicted nontoxic properties and IC₅₀ values obtained on adult worms resulted < 10 µM thus representing the best fasciocidal compounds tested here. Cytotoxicity assay on four types of cell lines demonstrated that three compounds are nontoxic at its most active concentration. In conclusion, three hit compounds identified in this proof-of-concept study are potential candidates in the discovery of new fasciocidal drugs. Further studies are warranted.

We previously reported on the isolation and biological activities of plagiochiline A (1), a 2,3-secoaromadendrane-type sesquiterpenoid from the Peruvian medicinal plant, Plagiochila disticha. This compound was found to have antiproliferative effects on a variety of solid tumor cell lines, as well as several leukemia cell lines. Other researchers have also noted the cytotoxicity of plagiochiline A (isolated from different plant species), but there are no prior reports regarding the mechanism for this bioactivity. Here, we have evaluated the effects of plagiochiline A on cell cycle progression in DU145 prostate cancer cells. A cell cycle analysis indicated that plagiochiline A caused a significant increase in the percentage of cells in the G₂/M phase when compared with control cells. When cells were stained and observed by fluorescence microscopy to examine progress through the mitotic phase, we found a significant increase in the proportion of cells with features of late cytokinesis (cells connected by intercellular bridges) in the plagiochiline A-treated samples. These results suggest that plagiochiline A inhibits cell division by preventing completion of cytokinesis, particularly at the final abscission stage. We also determined that plagiochiline A reduces DU145 cell survival in clonogenic assays and that it induces substantial cell death in these cells.

Anthraquinones are a large family of secondary metabolites (SMs) that are extensively studied for their diverse biological activities. These activities are determined by functional group decorations and the formation of dimers from anthraquinone monomers. Despite their numerous medicinal qualities, very few anthraquinone biosynthetic pathways have been elucidated so far, including the enzymatic dimerization steps. In this study, we report the elucidation of the biosynthesis of cladofulvin, an asymmetrical homodimer of nataloe-emodin produced by the fungus Cladosporium fulvum. A gene cluster of 10 genes controls cladofulvin biosynthesis, which begins with the production of atrochrysone carboxylic acid by the polyketide synthase ClaG and the β-lactamase ClaF. This compound is decarboxylated by ClaH to yield emodin, which is then converted to chrysophanol hydroquinone by the reductase ClaC and the dehydratase ClaB. We show that the predicted cytochrome P450 ClaM catalyzes the dimerization of nataloe-emodin to cladofulvin. Remarkably, such dimerization dramatically increases nataloe-emodin cytotoxicity against mammalian cell lines. These findings shed light on the enzymatic mechanisms involved in anthraquinone dimerization. Future characterization of the ClaM enzyme should facilitate engineering the biosynthesis of novel, potent, dimeric anthraquinones and structurally related compound families.

A series of (imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-6-yl)ureas were synthesized through 6-aminoimidazo[1,2-a]pyrazine as a key intermediate. 1-(Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-6-yl)-3-(4-methoxy - phenyl)urea displayed a cytostatic activity against a non-small cell lung cancer cell line and was chosen for further mechanistic studies. Growth kinetics highlighted a selective dose-dependent response of P53-mutant NSCLC-N6-L16 cell line and overexpression of TP53 gene induced by this compound. These pharmacological data suggest a promising reactivation of p53 mutant in NSCLC-N6-L16 cell line.

The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro the cytotoxicity on human periodontal ligament fibroblasts of three root-end filling materials: MTA Angelus(r), EndoSequence Root Repair Material Putty(r) and Super EBA(r). A primary culture of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts was previously obtained in order to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the three extracts from the root-end filling materials after 2 and 7 days of setting. Serial dilutions of these extracts (1:1, 1:2, 1:4 and 1:8) were evaluated at 1, 3 and 7 days using the methyl-thiazol-tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetric assay. Cell viability was evaluated as percentage of the negative control group, which represented 100% cell viability. Statistical analyses were done with t-test, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test at a significance level of 5%. It was found that the main difference among root-end filling materials was in the higher dilutions (p0.05). Cell viability of MTA Angelus(r) was superior for 2-day setting (p<0.05), compared with the other two root-end fillings. There were no statistically significant differences between 7-day set MTA Angelus(r) and EndoSequence Root Repair Material Putty(r). Super EBA(r) showed the lowest percentage of cell viability at higher dilutions (p<0.05). Therefore, MTA Angelus(r) and EndoSequence Root Repair Material Putty(r) were less cytotoxic in the highest dilution (1:1) compared with Super EBA(r).

Magnetite functionalized nanoparticles with Pd(L³)₂and Pd(L⁴)₂show antiproliferative activity against DU-145 and HuTu80; Pd(L²)₂is found to be a promising pharmacological agent.

One new 5-alkylresorcinol glucoside (1) was isolated from leaves of Cybianthus magnus, along with 12 known compounds, isolated from four plants belonging to Myrsinaceae family (2, 3 isolated from C. magnus; 4–7, 10 and 11 isolated from Myrsine latifolia; 4, 8 and 9 isolated from Myrsine sessiflora; 6, 7, 10, 12 and 13 isolated from Myrsine congesta). Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and by comparison of their spectral data with those reported in the literature. So far, only nine 5-alkylresorcinol glucosides were isolated from leaves of Grevillea robusta. Since resorcinols are known to exhibit strong cytotoxic activity, compounds 1 and 2 were tested against cell lines 3T3, H460, DU145 and MCF-7 for cytotoxicity in vitro and compounds 3–13 were tested for their antileishmanial activity. Compound 2 displayed a strong cytotoxic activity with IC₅₀ values ranging between 22 and 100 μM for all tested cell lines. Compounds 3–13 were not active against Leishmania amazonensis amastigotes. One new 5-alkylresorcinol glucoside (1) was isolated from leaves of Cybianthus magnus, along with 12 known compounds (2–13), isolated from four plants belonging to Myrsinaceae family. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and by comparison of their spectral data with those reported in the literature. Among the tested molecules, only compound 2 displayed a strong cytotoxic activity with IC₅₀ values ranging between 22 and 100 μM for all cell lines tested.