title: Biological evaluation of donor-acceptor aminonaphthoquinones as antitumor agents.
abstract: Several members of the phenylamino-1,4-naphthoquinone series were prepared in order to investigate structure-activity relationships (SAR) and to explore the antitumor effects associated with this scaffold. The cytotoxic effects of the aminoquinones (EC50) against a panel of cancer cell lines (MCF7, DU145 and T24 cells) and healthy fibroblasts (BALB/3T3) were assessed in vitro using the MTT reduction assay 48 h after drug exposure. SAR analysis of the aminonaphthoquinone series showed that insertion of a chlorine atom in the acceptor quinone nucleus and/or insertion of a methyl group at the nitrogen atom of the donor phenylamino group induced significant changes in cytotoxic activity. Quinones 7 and 9, which exhibited the highest selective indexes (5.73 and 6.29, respectively), were further characterized using the following assays: Colony formation, caspase-3 activity, and ATP content. The results showed that aminoquinone 7 strongly influenced ATP levels and impaired the proliferative capacity of T24 cells without activating caspase-3.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Arturo Prat, Iquique, Chile.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benites
authors.forename: Jaime A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Valderrama
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bettega
authors.forename: Rozangela Curi
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Pedrosa
authors.forename: Pedro Buc
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Calderon
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Verrax
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D015394:Molecular Structure; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D009285:Naphthoquinones / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009285:Naphthoquinones