Synthesis and biological evaluation of arylphosphonium-benzoxaborole conjugates as novel anticancer agents

Sravan K. Jonnalagadda, Kevin Wielenberg, Conor T Ronayne, Shirisha Jonnalagadda, Paul Kiprof, Subash C. Jonnalagadda, Venkatram R. Mereddy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Arylphosphonium-benzoxaborole conjugates have been synthesized as potential mitochondria targeting anticancer agents. The synthesized compounds have been tested for their effects on cell viability in various solid tumor cell lines including breast cancer 4T1 and MCF-7, pancreatic cancer MIAPaCa-2 and colorectal adenocarcinoma WiDr. Compound 6c is designated as a lead compound for further studies due to its enhanced effects on cell viability in the above-mentioned cell lines. Seahorse Xfe96 based metabolic assays reveal that the lead candidate 6c inhibits mitochondrial respiration in 4T1 and WiDr cell lines as evidenced by the reduction of mitochondrial ATP production and increase in proton leak. Epiflourescent microscopy experiments also illustrate that 6c causes significant mitochondrial fragmentation in 4T1 and WiDr cells, morphologically consistent with programmed cell death. Our current studies illustrate that arylphosphonium-benzoxaborole conjugates have potential to be further developed as anticancer agents.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number127259
JournalBioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters
Volume30
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 15 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by Whiteside Clinical Research Institute, Randy Shaver Cancer Research Community, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota Duluth.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Benzoxaborole
  • Cell viability
  • Glycolysis stress test
  • Mitochondrial fragmentation
  • Mitochondrial stress test
  • Phosphonium salts

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