Synthesis, Structure, and Antitumor Activities of Dehydroepiandrosteronyl Derivatives with 1,2,3-Triazoles

Objective: Dehydroepiandrosterone plays an important role in the human beings due to its ability to be converted into androgens and oestrogens. The aim of this paper is to synthesize a series of novel dehydroepiandrosteronyl 1,2,3-triazole derivatives and study the antitumor activity of the synthesized compounds. Methods: Novel dehydroepiandrosteronyl 1,2,3-triazole derivatives were synthesized across the Mitsunobu and click reaction, respectively. The cytotoxicities of the synthesized compounds against HeLa, HGC-27, and HEK-293T cells were determined by MTT assay. Results and Discussion: The results showed that compound (V) (3R,8R,9S,10R,13S,14S)3-(4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-10,13-dimethyl-1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16-tetradecahydro17H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-17-one had better inhibitory activity against the tumor cell lines tested. The IC₅₀ value of inhibitory activity on human cervical cancer cell (HeLa) and human gastric cancer cell (HGC-27) was 33.6 and 22.3 μmolL^–1, respectively. Conclusions: This work provides useful strategies for the design and synthesis of new steroidal antitumor drugs. The synthesized compounds have certain inhibitory activity on tumor cell growth and proliferation, but have little damage on normal cells, which deserves further study.