Synthesis and Biological Activity of Triterpene-Coumarin Conjugates

J Nat Prod. 2021 May 28;84(5):1587-1597. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.1c00128. Epub 2021 May 6.

Abstract

A set of 12 maslinic acid-coumarin conjugates was synthesized, with 9 being maslinic acid-diamine-coumarin conjugates at the C-28 carboxylic acid group of triterpene acid and the other three being maslinic acid-coumarin conjugates at C-2/C-3 and/or C-28 of the triterpene skeleton. The cytotoxic effects of these 12 triterpene conjugates were evaluated in three cancer cell lines (B16-F10, HT29, and Hep G2) and compared, respectively, with three nontumor cell lines from the same or similar tissue (HPF, IEC-18, and WRL68). The most potent cytotoxic results were achieved by a conjugate with two molecules of coumarin-3-carboxylic acid coupled through the C-2 and C-3 hydroxy groups of maslinic acid. This conjugate showed submicromolar IC50 values in two of the three cancer cell lines tested (0.6, 1.1, and 0.9 μM), being between 110- and 30-fold more effective than its corresponding precursor. Furthermore, this conjugate (10) showed percentages of cell viability for the three nontumor lines of 90%. Four maslinic acid-coumarin conjugates displayed apoptotic effects in the treated cells, with total apoptosis rates of between 40 and 85%, relative to the control. Almost all the compounds assayed caused cell-cycle arrest in all cancer cell lines, increasing the number of these cells in the G0/G1 phase.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Cycle Checkpoints / drug effects*
  • Coumarins / chemical synthesis
  • Coumarins / pharmacology*
  • HT29 Cells
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Humans
  • Melanoma, Experimental
  • Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial
  • Mice
  • Molecular Structure
  • Olive Oil
  • Triterpenes / chemical synthesis
  • Triterpenes / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Coumarins
  • Olive Oil
  • Triterpenes
  • coumarin
  • maslinic acid
  • coumarin-3-carboxylic acid