Cymantrenyl-nucleobases: synthesis, anticancer, antitrypanosomal and antimicrobial activity studies

The synthesis of four cymantrene-5-fluorouracil derivatives (1-4) and two cymantreneadenine derivatives (5 and 6) is reported. All compounds were characterized by spectroscopic methods and the crystal structure of two derivatives (1 and 6) together with the previously described cymantrene-adenine compound C was determined by X-ray crystallography. While the compounds 1 and 6 crystallized in the triclinic P-1 space group, compound C crystallized in the monoclinic P21/m space group. The newly synthesized compounds 1-6 were tested together with the two previously described cymantrene derivatives B and C for their in vitro antiproliferative activity against seven cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MCF-7/DX, MDA-MB-231, SKOV-3, A549, HepG2 and U-87-MG), three bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant strains), Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli, including clinical isolates of S. aureus and S. epidermidis, as well as against the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei. The most cytotoxic compounds were derivatives 2 and C for A549 and SKOV-3 cancer cell lines, respectively, with 50% growth inhibition (IC50) values of about 7 µM. The anticancer activity of the cymantrene compounds was determined to be due to their ability to induce oxidative stress and to trigger apoptosis and autophagy in cancer cells. Three derivatives (1, 4 and 5) displayed promising antitrypanosomal activity with GI50 values in the low micromolar range (3-4 µM). The introduction of the 5-fluorouracil moiety in 1 enhanced the trypanocidal activity compared to the activity previously reported for the corresponding uracil derivative. The antibacterial activity of cymantrene compounds 1 and C was within the range of 8-64 µg/mL and seemed to be the result of induced cell shrinking.