• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.738-743
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• 1998

Thirty six 5,8-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives, which bear unsaturated alkyl side chain with ester bond, were synthesized and tested cytotoxic activity on L1210 cells a nd antitumor activity against ICR mice bearing S-180 cells. It could be recognized that the cytotoxicities of naphthoquinones with R1, being methyl and propyl (IV1~24) were not enhanced by replacing the alkanoyls with alkenoyls. In contrast, the introduction of the alkenoyl moieties on the compounds with $R_1$=hexyl (IV25~36) resulted in the enhancement of their cytotoxicities. Replacement of alkanoyl group with an alkenoyl group generally increased the T/C value of the mice bearing S-180 cells.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.384-390
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• 1999

Thirty-four glutathione conjugates of 5,8-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinones (DMNQ) were synthesized and their structure was determined. The yield of GSH conjugate was dependent on size of alkyl group; the longer the size of alkyl group was, the lower was the yield. It was also found that the length of alkyl side chain influenced the chemical shift of quinonoid protons; the quinonoid protons of 2-glutathionyl DMNQ derivatives with R=H to propyl, 6.51-6.59 ppm vs. other ones with R=butyl to heptyl, 6.64-6.68 ppm. this was explained to be due to a folding effect of longer alkyl group. Glutathione (GSH) reacted with DMNQ derivative first to form a 1,4-adduct (2- or 3-glutathionyl-1,4-dihydroxy-5,8-dimethoxynaphthalenes) and then the adduct was autooxidized to 2- or 3-glutathionyl-DMNQ derivatives. Moreover, GSH reduced DMNQ derivatives to their hydrogenated products. It was suggested that such an organic reaction might play an important role for a study of metabolism or toxicity of DMNQ derivative sin the living cells.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.123-130
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• 2006

1,4-Naphthoquinones are widely distributed in nature and many clinically important antitumor drugs containing a quinone moiety, such as anthracyclines, mitoxantrones and saintopin, show excellent anticancer activity. In this study, 2- or 6-substituted 5,8-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ) and 5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DHNQ) derivatives were synthesized, and their cytotoxic activity against L1210 and P388 cancer cells was examined. Their antitumor activity was also assessed in mice bearing S-180 cells in the peritoneal cavity. In comparison with the DMNQ derivatives, the DHNQ derivatives exhibited more potent bioactivities than the DMNQ derivatives against both L1210 and P388 cells in vitro and S-180 cells in vivo. The $ED_{50}$ values of the DHNQ derivatives against P388 cells were in the range of 0.18-1.81 ${\mu}g/mL$ whereas those of the DMNQ derivatives were in the range of 0.26-40.41 ${\mu}g/mL$. The T/C ($\%$) values of the DHNQ derivatives, 8, 17, 18, 19, and 20, were found to be comparable to or even better than that of adriamycin. It was also observed that the 2-substituted derivatives (8, 19, 20) showed better antitumor activity than the 6-substituted derivatives (7, 17, 18) in the mice bearing S-180 cells in the peritoneal cavity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.109-109
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• 1997

Inhibitory effect on DNA topoisomerase-I, rate of glutathione conjugation and cytotoxicity of naphthoquinone derivatives were correlated. During 5 min exposure of the derivatives to glutathione (GSH), it was found that 14% of 5,8-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone(DMNQ) was converted into a GSH-conjugate, whereas 5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone(DHNQ) did not interact with GSH, implying that DMNQ exerted higher electrophilicity than DHNQ. However, DHNQ (IC$\_$50/, 0.15 ${\mu}$M) showed stronger cytotoxicity in L1210 cells than DMNQ(IC$\_$50/, 0.45 ${\mu}$M). The stronger cytotoxicity of DHNQ, compared to DMNQ, could be ascribed to more rapid redox cycling. Both naphthoquinones (IC$\_$50/, 60-65 ${\mu}$M) exhibiting about the same inhibitory effect on DNA topoisomerase-I were more potent than 1,4-naphthoquinone(1,4-NQ, IC$\_$50/, 134 ${\mu}$M). Thus, 5,8-oxy groups in the structure seem to be important for the inhibition of the enzyme. DMNQ showed a broader dose range while maintaining a good antitumor activity against S-180 fluid tumor. For these reasons, DMNQ was taken as useful pharmacophore for structural modification. Introduction of 1-hydroxyalkyl groups at C-2 of DMNQ lowered all of the activities mentioned above, while acetylation of 1-hydroxyalkyl moiety enhanced the activities by 4-5 times. Introduction of the same side chains at C-6 exhibited stronger activities than 2-substituted ones. Based on these results it was suggested that the quinonoid moiety in 6-substituted DMNQ was more exposed to cellular nucleophiles such as DNA, thiols of enzymes and so on. The synthesis of DHNQ or DMNQ derivatives are going on, and the corelationship between structure-activity will be discussed.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.893-900
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• 2004

2- or 6-Substituted BZT-N derivatives were synthesized, and their cytotoxic activity against can-cer L1210 and SNU-1 cells was examined. The antitumor action was also assessed in mice bearing S-180 cells in peritoneal cavity. In a comparison, it was found that 6-substituted BZT-N derivatives exhibited higher potencies in both bioactivities than 2-substituted BZT-N derivatives against L1210 cells in in vitro and S-180 in vitro tests exception of compound 36. Interestingly, it was observed that 2-substituted compound 36, which has methyl group at RI position, exhib-ited a better antitumor activity than 6-substituted compounds against L1210 and SNU-1 in vitro. The EDso value of 2-substituted compound 36 against L1210 was found to be comparable to the EDso value of adriamycin and was even better against the solid cancer cell line SNU-1. It was also observed that 2-substituted compound 36 showed better antitumor activity in mice bearing S-180 cells in the peritoneal cavity. The T/C (％) value of 2-substituted compound 36 was simi-lar to that of adriamycin. Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) tests reveal that the experimental E $D_{50}$ values against SNU-1 closely correlate with both the calculated HOMO ener-gies ( $E_{HOMO}$) and the measured H-NMR chemical shift of 3-H ($\delta$$_{H}$). The results suggests that a compound having higher $E_{HOMO}$ and $\delta$$_{H}$ values usually should have a lower E $D_{50}$ (SNU-1) value.lue.lue.lue.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.190-193
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• 2001

Various analogues of 5,8-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ) such as 2- or 6-(1-hydroxyiminoalkyl)-DMNQs were prepared and evaluated for the antitumor action. (1 -Hydroxyiminoalkyl)-DMNQs derivatives expressed greater antitumor action than (1-hydroxyalkyl) - or acyl-DMNQ derivatives. Moreover, 6-(1-hydroxyiminoalkyl)-DMNQ derivatives expressed higher antitumor action than 2-substituted ones, suggestive of a steric effect. Some of 6-(1-propyloxyalkyl)-DMNQ derivatives with an alkyl group of butyl to octyl moiety showed T/C values of >400%