Saponins are potential
wide-spectrum antitumor drugs, and copper(I)
catalyzed azide–alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is a suitable
approach to synthesizing saponin-like compounds by regioselective
glycosylation of the C2/C3 hydroxyl and C28 carboxylic groups of triterpene
aglycones maslinic acid (MA) and oleanolic acid (OA). Biological studies
on the T-84 human colon carcinoma cell line support the role of the
hydroxyl groups at C2/C3, the influence of the aglycone, and the bulky
nature of the substituents in C28. OA bearing a α-d-mannose moiety at C28 (compound 18) focused our interest
because the estimated inhibitory concentration 50 was similar to that
reported for ginsenoside Rh2 against colon cancer cells and it inhibits
the G1–S phase transition affecting the cell viability
and apoptosis. Considering that triterpenoids from natural sources
have been identified as inhibitors of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer
of activated B cell (NF-κB) signaling, docking studies were
conducted to evaluate whether NF-κB may be a potential target.
Results are consistent with the biological study and predict a similar
binding mode of MA and compound 18 to the p52 subunit
from NF-κB but not for OA. The fact that the binding site is
shared by the NF-κB inhibitor 6,6-dimethyl-2-(phenylimino)-6,7-dihydrobenzo[d][1,3]oxathiol-4(5H)-one supports the
result and points to NF-κB as a potential target of both MA
and compound 18.