Design and Synthesis of Curcumin-Like Diarylpentanoid Analogues as Potential Anticancer Agents

Background: Curcumin is a polyphenolic natural compound with multiple targets that used for the prophylaxis and treatment of some type of cancers like cervical and pancreatic cancers. Some recent patent for curcumin for cancer has also been reviewed. Objective: In this study, ten new curcumin derivatives were designed and synthesized and their cytostatic activity evaluated against the Hela and Panc cell lines that some of them showed more activity than curcumin. Method: In the present study, a series of mono-carbonyl derivatives of curcumin were designed and prepared. The details of the synthesis and chemical characterization of the synthesized compounds are described. The cytostatic activities of the designed compounds are assessed in two different tumor cell lines using MTT test. Results: In vitro screening for human cervix carcinoma cell lines (Hela) and pancreatic cell lines (Panc-1) at 24 and 48 hour showed that all the analogs possessed good activity against these tumor cell lines and compounds 5a, 5c and 6 with high potency can be used as a new lead compounds for the designing and finding new and potent cytostatic agents. Docking studies indicated that compound 5c readily binds the active site of human glyoxalase I protein via two strong hydrogen bonds engaging residues of Glu-99 and Lys-156. Conclusion: Our results are useful in guiding a design of optimized ligands with improved pharmacokinetic properties and increased of anti-cancer activity vs. the prototype curcumin compound.