Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 3-substituted indenoisoquinoline derivatives as topoisomerase I inhibitors

A new series of indenoisoquinoline derivatives was designed and synthesized. The in vitro anti-proliferative activity of these novel compounds was evaluated in HepG2, A549 and HCT-116 cell lines. Compounds 9a, 9b, 10a, 10c, 10e, 18a and 18b manifested potent inhibitory activity against the three tested cancer cell lines. Nineteen compounds were also tested for Top I inhibition at 50 μM. Almost all the tested compounds showed potent Top I inhibition activity at this concentration. The most potent compounds 9a and 10a demonstrated more cytotoxicity than HCPT and TPT and was comparable to CPT in inhibitory activities on Top I in our biological assay.

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