Synthesis of DAAS derivatives and their enhancement of HL-60 leukemia cell differentiation

DAAS is the diacetoxy acetal derivative of a-santonin and induces HL-60 cell differentiation into granulocytes. In this report, we investigated the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of DAAS derivatives in the differentiation of human HL-60 leukemia cells. Although its derivatives themselves had less effect on HL-60 cell differentiation than DAAS, the monoacetyl derivative, 2, mainly induced HL-60 cell differentiation. Moreover, compound 2 synergistically enhanced all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-induced HL-60 cell differentiation when combined with 50 nM ATRA, a well-known differentiation inducer. This enhancing effect is similar to that of DAAS in ATRA-induced differentiation.