Total Synthesis and Anticancer Activity of Novel Pulsatilla Saponin D Analogues

Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 2015;63(9):669-77. doi: 10.1248/cpb.c15-00106.

Abstract

Novel saponins that retain a free carboxyl group at the C-17 position and various sugars linked at the C-3 position of hederagenin aglycone were synthesized via stereospecific glycosylation. Since these natural products represented by Pulsatilla saponin D (PSD) were obtained in very small amounts, the total synthesis developed in this paper will resolve this problem of scarcity. The two types of synthesized arabinose- and rhamnose-cored saponins showed potent anticancer activity against a human lung cancer cell line (A549), and most disaccharide moiety saponins possessed more potent anti-lung cancer activity. Among the novel PSD analogues containing disaccharide saponins, compound 10i showed anti-lung cancer activity (6.6 µM) that was four-fold more potent than the clinical agent Iressa (26.08 µM).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / pharmacology*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Humans
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Molecular Structure
  • Saponins / chemical synthesis
  • Saponins / chemistry
  • Saponins / pharmacology*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
  • Pulsatilla saponin D
  • Saponins