Synthesis and anti-tumor activity evaluation of rhein-aloe emodin hybrid molecule

To improve the anti-tumor effects of rhein and aloe-emodin, a rhein-aloe-emodin hybrid molecule (RH-AE) was synthesized from rhein and aloe-emodin in the presence of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) and 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP). Chemical and spectroscopic methods, such as 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and HR-ESIMS were used for the structure identification of RH-AE. Using the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, the in vitro anti-tumor effects were compared between RH-AE, rhein and aloe-emodin on human hepatoma HepG2, human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE, human lung cancer NCI-H460, human ovarian cancer SK-OV-3, and human cervical cancer Hela cells. The results showed that the half inhibitory concentration (IC50) of RH-AE on HepG2, CNE, NCI-H460, SK-OV-3, and Hela cells were significantly lower than those of rhein and aloe-emodin. This showed that RH-AE has a better in vitro anti-tumor effect than rhein and aloe-emodin.