Discovery of novel osthole derivatives as potential anti-breast cancer treatment

Osthole, an ingredient of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) from natural product Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson, was used as a lead compound for structural modification. A series of osthole derivatives bearing aryl substituents at 3-position of coumarin, has been prepared and evaluated for their growth inhibitory activity against human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. Interestingly, some derivatives exhibited good inhibition, among them compound 8e was found to be the most potent compound with IC50 values of 0.24 mu M, 0.31 mu M against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, respectively, which was improved more than 100-folds compared with its parent compound osthole. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.