Design, synthesis, and antitumor activity of novel oleanolic acid analogues targeting EGFR

Based on the simulated docking of Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors with known active small molecule compounds, computer-aided drug design technology was used to analyze key amino acid fragments and determine the active groups binding with key sites. Then, twelve novel analogues of oleanolic acid (OA) were synthesized by introducing active groups at the C-3 and C-28 positions of OA. The structures of these novel analogues were confirmed by NMR and MS. Furthermore, the antitumor activities of these novel analogues were evaluated by MTT assay. As a result, compounds I and II showed stronger cytotoxicity on tumor cells than positive controls. In conclusion, our study synthesized twelve novel analogues of OA and determined compounds I and II had better antitumor effect, which may be potential candidate compounds for tumor therapy.