Sixteen furoxan-based nitric oxide (NO) releasing coumarin derivatives (6a–c, 8a–g, 10a, 13a,b, 15, and 17a,b) were designed, synthesized, and evaluated against the A549, HeLa, A2780, A2780/CDDP, and HUVEC cell lines. Most derivatives displayed potent antiproliferation activities. Among them, 8b exhibited the strongest antiproliferation activity on the four sensitive cell lines mentioned above and three drug resistant tumor cell lines A2780/CDDP, MDA-MB-231/Gem, and SKOV3/CDDP with IC50 values from 14 to 53 nM and from 62 to 140 nM, respectively. Furthermore, 8b inhibited the growth of A2780 in vivo and displayed lower toxicity on nontumorigenesis T29, showing good selectivity against malignant cells in vitro. Preliminary pharmacological studies showed that 8b induces apoptosis, arrests the cell cycle at the G2/M phase in the A2780 cell line, and disrupts the phosphorylation of MEK1 and ERK1. Overall, the NO-releasing capacity and the inhibition of ERK/MAPK pathway signaling may explain the potent antineoplastic activity of these compounds.

Eight 16,17-pyrazo-annulated steroidal derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in vitro vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitory activity with 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) as the reference compound. Most of the compounds showed potent VEGF inhibitory activity with EC50 values of micromolar or submicromolar range. Among them, the compounds 3 and 8 exhibited similar EC50 values and obviously better TI values compared with 2-ME.

Thirteen novel seco-DCK analogs (4–16) with several new skeletons were designed, synthesized and screened for in vitro anti-HIV-1 activity. Among them, three compounds (5, 13, and 16) showed moderate activity, and compound 9 exhibited the best activity with an EC50 value of 0.058 μM and a therapeutic index (TI) of 1000. The activity of 9 was better than that of 4-methyl DCK (2, EC50: 0.126 μM, TI: 301.2) in the same assay. Additionally, 9 also showed antiviral activity against a multi-RT inhibitor-resistant strain (RTMDR), which is insensitive to most DCK analogs. Compared with 2, compound 9 has a less complex structure, fewer hydrogen-bond acceptors, and a reduced log P value. Therefore, it is likely to exhibit better ADME, and appears to be a promising new lead for further development as an anti-HIV candidate.

In a continuing investigation into the pharmacophores and structure–activity relationship (SAR) of (3′R,4′R)-3′,4′-di-O-(S)-camphanoyl-(+)-cis-khellactone (DCK) as a potent anti-HIV agent, 2′-monomethyl substituted 1′-oxa, 1′-thia, 1′-sulfoxide, and 1′-sulfone analogs were synthesized and evaluated for inhibition of HIV-1 replication in H9 lymphocytes. Among them, 2′S-monomethyl-4-methyl DCK (5a)‡ and 2′S-monomethyl-1′-thia-4-methyl DCK (7a) exhibited potent anti-HIV activity with EC50 values of 40.2 and 39.1 nM and remarkable therapeutic indexes of 705 and 1000, respectively, which were better than those of the lead compound DCK in the same assay. In contrast, the corresponding isomeric 2′R-monomethyl-4-methyl DCK (6) and 2′R-monomethyl-1′-thia-4-methyl DCK (8) showed much weaker inhibitory activity against HIV-1 replication. Therefore, the bioassay results suggest that the spatial orientation of the 2′-methyl group in DCK analogs can have important effects on anti-HIV activity of this compound class.

•Synthesis of hybrids with 16,17-pyrazo-annulated steroids and phenylsulfonylfuroxan.•The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated as anti-cancer agents.•Preliminary structure activity relationship was demonstrated.Thirteen novel furoxan-based nitric oxide (NO) releasing hybrids (14a–e, 15a–e, 17b–d) of 16,17-pyrazo-annulated steroidal derivatives were synthesized and evaluated against the MDA-MB-231, HCC1806, SKOV-3, DU145, and HUVEC cell lines for their in vitro anti-proliferative activity. Most of the compounds displayed potent anti-proliferative effects. Among them, 17c exhibited the best activity with IC50 values of 20–1.4 nM against four cell lines (MDA-MB-231, SKOV-3, DU145, and HUVEC), and 1.03 μM against a tamoxifen resistant breast cancer cell line (HCC1806). Furthermore, five compounds (14a, 15a, 17b–d) were selected to screen for VEGF inhibitory activity. Compounds 15a, 17b,c showed obviously better activity than 2-Methoxyestradiol (2-ME) on reducing levels of VEGF secreted by MDA-MB-231 cell line. In a Capillary-like Tube Formation Assay, compounds 17b,c exhibited a significant suppression of the tubule formation in the concentration of 1.75 nM and 58 nM, respectively. The preliminary SAR showed that steroidal scaffolds with a linker in 3-position were favorable moieties to evidently increase the bioactivities of these hybrids. Overall, these results implied that 17c merited to be further investigated as a promising anti-cancer candidate.

•The reduction of △4-3-keto moiety was performed with Na2S2O4/NaHCO3 and CuCl/NaBH4.•Na2S2O4/NaHCO3 mainly reduced steroidal 4-en-3-one to 5α-H-3-one isomer.•Epiandrosterone was synthesized from AD in four steps with an overall yield of 45%.•CuCl/NaBH4 mainly reduced 17-ethylendioxy protected AD to 3α-hydroxy-5β-H isomer.•Configurations of 5b, 6b, 9, 10 and 17e were identified by X-ray diffraction.This paper describes the regio- and stereoselective reduction of △4-3-keto moiety in certain steroids using Na2S2O4/NaHCO3 and CuCl/NaBH4, respectively. Using either one of the two reduction agents in the reaction, the 17-substituents in the D ring were observed to have clearly influenced the stereoselective reduction of 4-ene in the A ring by the so-called conformational transmission effect. Na2S2O4/NaHCO3 regioselectively reduced CC at 4-position of 17-substituted-androst-4-en-3-one derivatives to 5α-H-3-one as the main isomer. And as an extended application, Epiandrosterone (11) was further synthesized from androst-4-en-3,17-dione (AD) via four steps. The total yield from this was about 45%. In the presence of CuCl/NaBH4, △4-3-keto conjugated reduction of 17-spirocyclic ethylene ketal protected androst-4-en-3-one derivatives mainly produced 3α-hydroxy-5β-H isomers, at a yield around 81%. Considering the scaffold configuration of 3α-hydroxy-5β-H moiety coincided with that of bile acid analogs, this selective reduction could also be used as an alternative method for the synthetic study of bile acids using AD and its derivatives, which are from the microorganism degradation of natural sterols, as the potential materials. Meanwhile, configurations of the reductive compounds 5b, 6b, 9, 10 and 17e were identified by X-ray diffraction.Download full-size image