Anti-cancer activity of heteroaromatic acetals of andrographolide and its isomers

Acetals (2a-d, 3a-d, and 6a-d) of andrographolide (1), 14-deoxy-12-hydroxyandrographolide (4), and isoandrographolide (5) were synthesized using benzaldehyde and heteroaromatic aldehydes. All the synthesized derivatives were characterized using H-1-NMR, C-13-NMR, mass spectrometry, UV, and IR. The compound 6d was characterized via a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. All the compounds were tested against 60 cell lines of NCI. The acetals (2a-d) of andrographolide (1) exhibited better activity than the acetals (3a-d, and 6a-d) of 12-hydroxyandrographolide (4) and isoandrographolide (5). Preliminary studies suggested that acetals synthesized using benzaldehyde improved anticancer activity. Compound 2a showed the highest growth inhibition of 90.97% against the leukaemia cancer cell line CCRF-CEM. Andrographolide and seven selected compounds were tested against the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. Compound 3b showed the best activity with an IC50 value of 3 mu M among all the tested compounds. Furthermore, this compound 3b was subjected to cell cycle analysis and protein expression confirming apoptosis through the disruption of the mitochondrial potential membrane (Delta psi(m)).