Semi-Synthesis and In Vitro Anti-Cancer Evaluation of Magnolol Derivatives.

Magnolol (MAG), a biphenolic neolignan, has various biological activities including antitumor effects. In this study, 15 MAG derivatives were semi-synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activities. From these derivatives, compound exhibited the best cytotoxic activity against four human cancer cell lines, with IC values ranging from 20.43 to 28.27 μM. Wound-healing and transwell assays showed that compound significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. In addition, Western blotting experiments, performed using various concentrations of , demonstrated that it downregulates the expression of HIF-1α, MMP-2, and MMP-9 in a concentration-dependent manner. Overall, these results suggest that substituting a benzyl group having F atoms substituted at the C2 position on MAG is a viable strategy for the structural optimization of MAG derivatives as anticancer agents.