Evaluation of toxicity on epithelial and tumor cells of biaryl dipeptide tyrosines

•Synthesis of tyrosine dipeptides.•Toxicity of a dipeptide tyrosine derivative demonstrated in a melanoma cell lineage.•Biaryl dipeptide tyrosine compounds have selective cytotoxic potential.

We report a method to obtain biaryl dipeptide tyrosine via Suzuki–Miyaura and alkynyl dipeptide tyrosine by Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions. Analysis of the biological action of biaryl dipeptide tyrosine 4d compound showed its ability to impair the metabolism and proliferation of SK-Mel-28 human melanoma lineage cells, independently of mitochondrial membrane depolarization, apoptosis and necrosis. Moreover, 4d compound did not cause toxicity to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), suggesting its toxic specificity to cancer cells.

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