Certain indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferation, DNA binding affinity, and topoisomerases (topo I and topo II) inhibitory activities. The preliminary results are the following: (1) substituent of the aminoalkoxyimino side chain at C11 is important for antiproliferative activities in which the terminal amine preferred to be a tertiary or the cyclic five-membered pyrrolidino ring; (2) among the indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives evaluated, (E)-6-hydroxy-9-methoxy-11H-indeno[1,2-c]quinolin-11-one O-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethyl oxime (8c) was found to be one of the most cytotoxic agents with a GI50 value of 0.84, 0.89, and 0.79 microM against SAS, A549, and BT483, respectively, which is more active than camptothecin; (3) substituent at C6 is crucial for the selective cytotoxicity in which the OH group is the most preferred while hydrogen or piperazine exhibited cytotoxicity on both cancer cells and Detroit-551; (4) a positive correlation of antiproliferative activity, DNA binding affinity, and topo I and topo II inhibitory activities has been observed for indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives; (5) compound 8c induced DNA fragmentation may through caspase-3 activation, phosphorylation of the histone protein H2AX at Ser139 (gamma-H2AX), and PARP cleavage; (6) compound 8c demonstrated significant tumor regression in the human breast xenograft model; (7) indeno[1,2-c]quinoline derivatives are a new class of molecules that have the potential to be developed as dual topo I and topo II inhibitory agents.

(E) -6-Hydroxy-9-methoxy-6-(piperazin-1-yl)-11H -indeno[1,2-c ]quinolin-11-one O-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethyl oxime (2c) was identified as a potential dual topo I/II inhibitor in our previous paper. In continuation for the search of more potent compounds, we describe herein the preparation of certain indeno[1,2-c ]quinoline derivatives and evaluation of their antiproliferation, DNA binding affinity, and topoisomerases (topo I and topo II) inhibitory activities. Among them, (E) -9-[3-(dimethylamino)propoxy]-11H -indeno[1,2-c ]quinolin-11-one O-3-(dimethylamino)propyl oxime (11b) and its analog 11c exhibited approximately equal activity to the lead compound 2c against the growth of HeLa and A549 cancer cells. Both compounds 11b and 11c were more active than 2c in the inhibition of topo I and topo II. However, none of them exhibited significant DNA binding affinity while 2c was a very strong DNA binding agent. Compound 11b exhibited a high oral bioavailability of 39.8 % while the oral bioavailability of 2c and 11c was only 10.9 and 8.6 %, respectively. The in vivo anti-tumor evaluation of 11b in nude mice bearing subcutaneous breast cancer tumors revealed that treatment with low (10 mg/kg) or high (30 mg/kg) doses of 11b dramatically diminished tumor growth. Therefore, compound 11b is identified as a potential non-DNA intercalating dual topo I/II inhibitor.

A number of 6,11-disubstituted indenoquinolines were synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferative activities and mechanism studies.