Herein we report a study on the synthesis and biological evaluation of a library of nucleoside-bile acid conjugates prepared by combining 2'-deoxyadenosine, 2'-deoxyguanosine, 2'-deoxyuridine as well as adenosine and guanosine derivatives with cheno-, urso-, nor-cheno-, nor-urso- and taurourso-desoxycholic acid derivatives by means of the click reaction. The new nucleoside-bile acid conjugates incorporating a triazole moiety were tested in vitro against leukemic K562 and HCT116 colon carcinoma, as well as on normal fibroblast cells. Six compounds displayed interesting anti-proliferative activity against the selected cancer lines and no cytotoxic effects against normal fibroblasts. A possible structure activity relationship was also investigated.
Keywords: anticancer activity; bile acids; bioconjugates; click chemistry; cytoselectivity; nucleosides.