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Natural Compounds as a Potential Inhibitor to Cancer Therapy:  Identification, Synthesis, In Silico and Biological Evaluation

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 3628

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mohamed E M Saeed

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institut für Pharmazeutische und Biomedizinische Wissenschaften (IPBW), Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany
Interests: cancer; multidrug resistance; natural products; pharmacogenomics; drug discovery
Prof. Dr. Magdi Awadalla Mohamed

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, P.O. Box 2014, King Khalid Road, Sakaka 72388, Saudi Arabia
Interests: drug discovery; computer aided drug design; synthetic medicinal chemistry; natural product chemistry; organic synthesis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products have always been considered vital sources for the identification of novel chemotherapeutic agents to treat cancer. Well-known examples of the potential therapeutic of plant-derived natural products plants are the microtubule-inhibiting Vinca alkaloids, the DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin, the terpene paclitaxel, or the podophyllotoxin-derived lignans, etoposide and teniposide. A survey of the National Cancer Institute showed that 69% of anticancer drugs approved between the 1980s and 2019 are either natural products or developed based on knowledge gained from natural products. Owing to the interest in bioactive natural products as chemical lead compounds for the generation of semisynthetic derivatives with improved pharmacological features, medicinal plants, as well as other natural resources (from marine or microbiological ecosystems), have experienced a thriving revival. Plants synthesize secondary metabolites as a defense against competitors, herbivores, and pathogens and as signal compounds that attract insects for reproduction. Secondary metabolites maintain crucial functions for the survival and reproductive fitness of plants. In addition to toxicity, secondary plant metabolites exert pharmacological features, which make them valuable for treatment purposes. The separation of these benefits from harmful effects is the goal of modern pharmacognosy and pharmacology. Recently, in silico techniques have become robust and valuable tools in drug discovery research. The computer simulates the binding mode and determines the affinities between ligands (compounds) and macromolecules. Therefore, manuscripts on in silico studies are highly encouraged to be submitted to this Special Issue.

Dr. Mohamed E M Saeed
Prof. Dr. Magdi Awadalla Mohamed
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural products
  • cancer
  • chemotherapeutic agents
  • pharmacology
  • medicinal chemistry

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 8006 KiB  
Article
Myotoxin-3 from the Pacific Rattlesnake Crotalus oreganus oreganus Venom Is a New Microtubule-Targeting Agent
by María Cecilia González García, Caroline Radix, Claude Villard, Gilles Breuzard, Pascal Mansuelle, Pascale Barbier, Philipp O. Tsvetkov, Harold De Pomyers, Didier Gigmes, François Devred, Hervé Kovacic, Kamel Mabrouk and José Luis
Molecules 2022, 27(23), 8241; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27238241 - 25 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1237
Abstract
Microtubule targeting agents (MTA) are anti-cancer molecules that bind tubulin and interfere with the microtubule functions, eventually leading to cell death. In the present study, we used an in vitro microtubule polymerization assay to screen several venom families for the presence of anti-microtubule [...] Read more.
Microtubule targeting agents (MTA) are anti-cancer molecules that bind tubulin and interfere with the microtubule functions, eventually leading to cell death. In the present study, we used an in vitro microtubule polymerization assay to screen several venom families for the presence of anti-microtubule activity. We isolated myotoxin-3, a peptide of the crotamine family, and three isoforms from the venom of the Northern Pacific rattlesnake Crotalus oreganus oreganus, which was able to increase tubulin polymerization. Myotoxin-3 turned out to be a cell-penetrating peptide that slightly diminished the viability of U87 glioblastoma and MCF7 breast carcinoma cells. Myotoxin 3 also induced remodeling of the U87 microtubule network and decreased MCF-7 microtubule dynamic instability. These effects are likely due to direct interaction with tubulin. Indeed, we showed that myotoxin-3 binds to tubulin heterodimer with a Kd of 5.3 µM and stoichiometry of two molecules of peptide per tubulin dimer. Our results demonstrate that exogenous peptides are good candidates for developing new MTA and highlight the richness of venoms as a source of pharmacologically active molecules. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds as a Potential Inhibitor to Cancer Therapy:  Identification, Synthesis, In Silico and Biological Evaluation)
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15 pages, 3445 KiB  
Article
EGFR and COX-2 Dual Inhibitor: The Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel Chalcones
by Arafa Musa, Ehab M. Mostafa, Syed Nasir Abbas Bukhari, Nasser Hadal Alotaibi, Ahmed H. El-Ghorab, Amr Farouk, AbdElAziz A. Nayl, Mohammed M. Ghoneim and Mohamed A. Abdelgawad
Molecules 2022, 27(4), 1158; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27041158 - 09 Feb 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1904
Abstract
For most researchers, discovering new anticancer drugs to avoid the adverse effects of current ones, to improve therapeutic benefits and to reduce resistance is essential. Because the COX-2 enzyme plays an important role in various types of cancer leading to malignancy enhancement, inhibition [...] Read more.
For most researchers, discovering new anticancer drugs to avoid the adverse effects of current ones, to improve therapeutic benefits and to reduce resistance is essential. Because the COX-2 enzyme plays an important role in various types of cancer leading to malignancy enhancement, inhibition of apoptosis, and tumor-cell metastasis, an indispensable objective is to design new scaffolds or drugs that possess combined action or dual effect, such as kinase and COX-2 inhibition. The start compounds A1 to A6 were prepared through the diazo coupling of 3-aminoacetophenone with a corresponding phenol and then condensed with two new chalcone series, C7–18. The newly synthesized compounds were assessed against both COX-2 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) for their inhibitory effect. All novel compounds were screened for cytotoxicity against five cancer cell lines. Compounds C9 and G10 exhibited potent EGFR inhibition with IC50 values of 0.8 and 1.1 µM, respectively. Additionally, they also displayed great COX-2 inhibition with IC50 values of 1.27 and 1.88 µM, respectively. Furthermore, the target compounds were assessed for their cytotoxicity against pancreatic ductal cancer (Panc-1), lung cancer (H-460), human colon cancer (HT-29), human malignant melanoma (A375) and pancreatic cancer (PaCa-2) cell lines. Interestingly, compounds C10 and G12 exhibited the strongest cytotoxic effect against PaCa-2 with average IC50 values of 0.9 and 0.8 µM, respectively. To understand the possible binding modes of the compounds under investigation with the receptor cites of EGFR and COX-2, a virtual docking study was conducted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds as a Potential Inhibitor to Cancer Therapy:  Identification, Synthesis, In Silico and Biological Evaluation)
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