Novel peptidomimetic compounds containing redox active chalcogens and quinones as potential anticancer agents

Many types of cancer cells are associated with a disturbed intracellular redox balance and oxidative stress (OS). Among the various agents employed to modulate the intracellular redox state of cells, certain redox catalysts containing quinone and chalcogen moieties have shown considerable promise. Passerini multicomponent reaction has been developed for the synthesis of agents combining two, three or even four redox centers in one molecule in a good yield. When incubated with cancer cells these agents inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptotic cell death. Interestingly, some of these redox active compounds exhibited quite low toxicity with normal cells. The cause was obviously OS, which was reflected by significant decrease in reduced glutathione, subsequently cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis.