No abstract

isolation and structure elucidation of two new furandione derivatives, asperterone B (I) and C (II), which show moderate cytotoxic activities against the human colorectal carcinoma SW1116

In this paper, a series of novel 1H-dibenzo[a,c]carbazole derivatives of dehydroabietic acid bearing different N-(piperazin-1-yl)alkyl side chains were designed, synthesised and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activities against three human hepatocarcinoma cell lines (SMMC-7721, HepG2 and Hep3B). Among them, compound 10g exhibited the most potent activity against three cancer cell lines with IC 50 values of 1.39 ± 0.13, 0.51 ± 0.09 and 0.73 ± 0.08 mM, respectively. In the kinase inhibition assay, compound 10g could significantly inhibit MEK1 kinase activity with IC 50 of 0.11 ± 0.02 mM, which was confirmed by western blot analysis and molecular docking study. In addition, compound 10g could elevate the intracellular ROS levels, decrease mitochondrial membrane potential, destroy the cell membrane integrity, and finally lead to the oncosis and apoptosis of HepG2 cells. Therefore, compound 10g could be a potent MEK inhibitor and a promising anticancer agent worthy of further investigations.

Two new furandiones named asperterone B (1) and C (2) together with four known metabolites (3-6) were isolated from the liquid culture of the endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus MHL-P22 residing in the fresh leaves of Malus halliana. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by analysis of their MS, IR, 1D-and 2D-NMR spectra. 1 and 2 showed moderate cytotoxic activities against human colorectal carcinoma SW1116 cells with IC 50 values of 57.5 and 71.0 µM, respectively. The biosynthetic pathway for 1, 2 and their analogues was also postulated and briefly discussed.

In the title compound, C16H16BrNO4, the dihedral angle between the two aromatic rings is 67.51 (25)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds involving the N—H and C=O groups of the amide function, leading to a chain along [-101].