Novel thienopyridine derivatives as specific anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) agents: Synthesis, preliminary structure–activity relationships, and in vitro biological evaluation

Novel thienopyridine derivatives 1b–1r were synthesized, based on a hit compound 1a that was found in a previous cell-based screening of anticancer drugs. Compounds 1a–1r have the following features: (1) their anticancer activity in vitro was first reported by our group. (2) The most potent analog 1g possesses hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-specific anticancer activity. It can specifically inhibit the proliferation of the human hepatoma HepG2 cells with an IC50 value of 0.016 μM (compared with doxorubicin as a positive control, whose IC50 was 0.37 μM). It is inactive toward a panel of five different types of human cancer cell lines. (3) Compound 1g remarkably induces G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis in HepG2 cells in vitro at low micromolar concentrations. These results, especially the HCC-specific anticancer activity of 1g, suggest their potential in targeted chemotherapy for HCC.

Among 17 analogs of 1a, the most potent analog 1g possesses hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-specific anticancer activity. It was inactive toward a panel of five different types of human cancer cell lines.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide