Department of Organic Chemistry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-780 Poznan, Poland.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-806 Poznan, Poland.
Future Med Chem. 2018 Mar 1;10(5):511-525. doi: 10.4155/fmc-2017-0154. Epub 2018 Feb 9.
Triterpenes are natural compounds, whose wide biological activity predestines them for application as promising new chemotherapeutics. In this paper, we report the results of our investigations into the substitution of oleanolic acid with aromatic and nitroaromatic moieties acting as bioreducing agents.
The process of reduction of nitro groups was investigated through cyclic voltammetry, UV-Vis and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroelectrochemistry. The cytotoxic activity against selected cancer cell lines was determined, showing a significant increase in cytotoxicity when the triterpene is equipped with a nitroaromatic moiety.
We believe this approach to the functionalization is promising in terms of enhancing anticancer activity. We also indicate electrochemical techniques as advantageous preclinical screening methods for the identification of cytotoxic agents.
三萜类化合物是天然化合物，其广泛的生物活性使它们成为有前途的新型化疗药物。本文报道了我们对熊果酸进行取代反应的研究结果，取代基为芳香族和硝基芳香族化合物，可作为生物还原剂。
通过循环伏安法、紫外-可见和电子顺磁共振光谱电化学研究了硝基的还原过程。测定了对选定癌细胞系的细胞毒性活性，当三萜类化合物带有硝基芳香族部分时，细胞毒性显著增加。
我们相信这种功能化方法在提高抗癌活性方面很有前途。我们还指出，电化学技术是识别细胞毒性剂的有利临床前筛选方法。
