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Enzymatic Synthesis of Epoxidized Metabolites of Docosahexaenoic, Eicosapentaenoic, and Arachidonic Acids
Published on: June 28, 2019
Efficient synthesis and biological evaluation of epiceanothic acid and related compounds
1Center for Drug Discovery, College of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, China.
Abstract:
Epiceanothic acid (1) is a naturally occurring, but very rare pentacyclic triterpene with a unique pentacyclic triterpene (PT) structure. An efficient synthesis of 1 starting from betulin (3) has been accomplished in 12-steps with a total yield of 10% in our study. Compound 1 and selected synthetic intermediates were further evaluated as anti-HIV-1 agents, inhibitors of glycogen phosphorylase (GP), and cytotoxic agents. Compound 1 exhibited moderate HIV-1 inhibition. Most importantly, compound 5, with an opened A-ring, showed significant GP inhibitory activity with an IC(50) of 0.21 microM, suggesting a potential for development as an anti-diabetic agent. On the other hand, compound 12, with a closed A-ring, showed potent cytotoxicity against A549 and MCF-7 human tumor cell lines, with IC(50) values of 0.89 and 0.33 microM, respectively. These results suggest that the A-ring of PTs is an important pharmacophore that could be modified to involve different biological activities.
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