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This article is part of a themed section on Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.11/issuetoc.

Adenocarcinoma and glioblastoma cell lines express α7and α9α10-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), whose activation promotes tumor cell growth. On these cells, the triethylammoniumethyl ether of 4-stilbenol MG624, a known selective antagonist of α7 and α9α10 nAChRs, has antiproliferative activity. The structural analogy of MG624 with the mitocan RDM-4′BTPI, triphenylphosphoniumbutyl ether of pterostilbene, suggested us that molecular hybridization among their three substructures (stilbenoxy residue, alkylene linker, and terminal onium) and elongation of the alkylene linker might result in novel antitumor agents with higher potency and selectivity. We found that lengthening the ethylene bridge in the triethylammonium derivatives results in more potent and selective toxicity toward adenocarcinoma and glioblastoma cells, which was paralleled by increased α7 and α9α10 nAChR antagonism and improved ability of reducing mitochondrial ATP production. Elongation of the alkylene linker was advantageous also for the triphenylphosphonium derivatives resulting in a generalized enhancement of antitumor activity, associated with increased mitotoxicity.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Smoking accounts for approximately 70% of the cases of non- small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 90% of the cases of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), although some patients develop lung cancer without a history of smoking. Nicotine is the most active addictive component of tobacco smoke. It does not initiate tumorigenesis in humans and rodents, but it alters the pathophysiology of lung cells by inducing the secretion of growth factors, neurotransmitters and cytokines, and promotes tumour growth and metastases by inducing cell cycle progression, migration, invasion, angiogenesis and the evasion of apoptosis. Most of these effects are a result of nicotine binding and activation of cell-surface neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and downstream intracellular signalling cascades, and many are blocked by nAChR subtype-selective antagonists. Recent genome-wide association studies have revealed single nucleotide polymorphisms of nAChR subunits that influence nicotine dependence and lung cancer. This review describes the molecular basis of nAChR structural and functional diversity in normal and cancer lung cells, and the genetic alterations facilitating smoking-induced lung cancers. It also summarises current knowledge concerning the intracellular pathways activated by nicotine and other compounds present in tobacco smoke.

Some unichiral analogues of 2R,2'S-2-(1'-methyl-2'-pyrrolidinyl)-7-hydroxy-1,4-benzodioxane, a potent and selective α4β2-nAChR partial agonist, were designed by opening dioxane and replacing hydroxyl carbon with nitrogen. The resulting 3-pyridyl and m-hydroxyphenyl ethers have high α4β2 affinity and good subtype selectivity, which get lost if OH is removed from phenyl or the position of pyridine nitrogen is changed. High α4β2 affinity and selectivity are also attained by meta hydroxylating the 3-pyridyl and the phenyl ethers of (S)-N-methylprolinol and the phenyl ether of (S)-2-azetidinemethanol, known α4β2 agonists, although the interaction mode of the aryloxymethylene substructure cannot be assimilated to that of benzodioxane. Indeed, the α4β2 and α3β4 functional tests well differentiate behaviors that the binding tests homologize: both the 3-hydroxyphenyl and the 5-hydroxy-3-pyridyl ether of N-methylprolinol are α4β2 full agonists, but only the latter is highly α4β2/α3β4 selective, while potent and selective partial α4β2 agonism characterizes the hydroxybenzodioxane derivative and its two opened semirigid analogues.