title: Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic quinones: a class of potential selective antitumor agents.
abstract: The development of prodrugs that are enzymatically activated into anticancer agents is a promising perspective in cancer therapy. Many nitrogen-containing quinoid heterocycles have been reported to show antitumor effect. The principal interest in these compounds lies on their potential to produce tumor-selective toxicity. Selectivity occurs by difference in oxygen tension between normal and tumor tissue and by levels of the required activating enzymes. In this review a summary of the most interesting heterocyclic quinones is given together with their biological property. SAR studies concerning the importance of some structural features will be described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Bologna, via Belmeloro 6, I-40126 Bologna, Italy. laura.garuti@unibo.it
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garuti
authors.forename: Marinella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roberti
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pizzirani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015195:Drug Design; D006571:Heterocyclic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011809:Quinones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D006571:Heterocyclic Compounds; D011809:Quinones; D009584:Nitrogen