title: Ring A-modified Derivatives from the Natural Triterpene 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-Boswellic Acid and their Cytotoxic Activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Natural triterpene boswellic acids (BAs) have attracted much interest due to their anticancer activity, but more chemical modification is necessary to explore their pharmacological value. In addition to subtle functionalization, transformations that alter the triterpene skeleton are viewed as an alternative approach.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study, transformations altering ring A of 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) were performed to obtain A-lactone, A-lactam, A-seco and A-contracted derivatives.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two new derivatives were synthesized, and their structures were confirmed by NMR and MS. Their anticancer activity against human cancer cell lines K562, PC3, A549 and HL60 was screened.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Biological evaluation indicated that the ring A cleavage or contraction transformations themselves did not significantly enhance the cytotoxic activity, but most of the derivatives based on these ring A-modified skeletons exhibited good cytotoxic activity. Significantly improved cytotoxicity was discovered for the esterified analogues of the A-lactone and A-lactam series and the amidated analogues of the A-seco and ring A contracted series, especially those bearing two nitrogen-containing substituents. Among them, compounds 6a, 11b, 12k and 18e showed strong cytotoxic activity, with IC50 values of 5.0~3.5 μM against K562 cells, almost ninefold stronger than that of AKBA. Further study proposed that the antiproliferative activities of 6a, 11b, 12k and 18e may be due to apoptosis induction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The transformations of the ring A skeleton of AKBA provide new platforms to discover anticancer candidates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Product Chemistry, Key Lab of Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Product Chemistry, Key Lab of Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
authors.forename: Peihong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Product Chemistry, Key Lab of Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
authors.forename: Yaqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Product Chemistry, Key Lab of Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Product Chemistry, Key Lab of Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
authors.forename: Hongxiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lou
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001688:Biological Products / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001688:Biological Products; D014315:Triterpenes
keywords: AKBA; anticancer activity; boswellic acids; natural triterpene; ring A cleavage; ring A contraction