In vitro anticancer study of novel curcumin derivatives via targeting PI3K/Akt/p53 signaling pathway

Four new series of curcumin derivatives bearing NO-donating moiety were synthesized via etherification, nucleophilic substitution, and Knoevenagel condensation etc. The cytotoxicity activity of curcumin derivatives against five human tumor cell lines (A549, Hela, HepG2, MCF-7 and HT-29) and two normal cell lines (LO-2 and HK-2) has been studied. The results showed that compound 6a could inhibit the proliferation of MCF-7 cells remarkably and exhibit low toxicity to normal cells. Also, the underlying mechanism in vitro of compound 6a on MCF-7 was investigated. It has been found that compound 6a induced G2/M arrest and apoptosis of MCF-7 in a dose-dependent manner. Compound 6a-induced the fluorescence changes of ROS in MCF-7 cells confirmed the occurrence of apoptosis. Western Blot suggested that compound 6a decreased the expression of PI3K, as well as increased the expression of p53, cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-3. Furthermore, molecular docking revealed that compound 6a could bind well at active site of PI3K (3zim) with total score 9.59. Together, compound 6a, a potential PI3K inhibitor, may inhibit the survival of MCF-7 cells via interfering with PI3K/Akt/p53 pathway.