Abstract
Andrographolide 1, a diterpenoid lactone of the plant Andrographis paniculata, known to possess antitumour activity in in vitro and in vivo breast cancer models was subjected to semisynthesis leading to the preparation of a number of novel compounds. These compounds exhibited in vitro antitumour activity with moderate to excellent growth inhibition against MCF-7 (breast) and HCT-116 (colon) cancer cells. Compounds 3,19-(2-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(5), 3,19-(3-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(6), 3,19-(3-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(7), 3,19-(4-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(8), 3,19-(2-fluorobenzylidene)andrographolide(10), 3,19-(2-chloro-5-nitrobenzylidene)andrographolide (21), 3,19-(4-chlorobenzylidene)andrographolide(30) and 3,19-(2-chloro-4-fluorobenzylidene) andrographolide(31) were also screened against 60 NCI (National Cancer Institute, USA) human tumour cell lines derived from nine cancer cell types.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) for funding this project under the Intensification of Research in Priority Areas (IRPA) Programme (Grants: 06-02-04-0088 and 06-02-04-0603-EA001). The European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) is acknowledged for sponsoring a fellowship to S.R. Jada to carry out research at The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. The authors also wish to thank the National Cancer Institute for in vitro pharmacological screening.