Terpenoids from Euphorbia pedroi as Multidrug-Resistance Reversers

Ricardo J. Ferreira, Annamária Kincses, Márió Gajdács, Gabriella Spengler, Daniel J.V.A. Dos Santos, Joseph Molnár, Maria José U. Ferreira

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The phytochemical study of Euphorbia pedroi led to the isolation of a new tetracyclic triterpenoid with an unusual spiro scaffold, spiropedroxodiol (1), along with seven known terpenoids (2-8). Aiming at obtaining compounds with improved multidrug-resistance (MDR) reversal activity, compound 8, an ent-abietane diterpene, was derivatized by introducing nitrogen-containing and aromatic moieties, yielding compounds 9-14. The structures of compounds were characterized by detailed spectroscopic analysis, including 2D NMR experiments (COSY, HMQC/HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY). Compounds 1-14 were evaluated for their MDR-reversing activity on human ABCB1 gene transfected mouse lymphoma cells (L5178Y-MDR) through a combination of functional and chemosensitivity assays. The natural compounds 1-8 were further evaluated on resistant human colon adenocarcinoma cells (Colo320), and, additionally, their cytotoxicity was assessed on noncancerous mouse (NIH/3T3) and human (MRC-5) embryonic fibroblast cell lines. While spiropedroxodiol (1) was found to be a very strong MDR reversal agent in both L5178Y-MDR and Colo320 cells, the chemical modifications of helioscopinolide E (8) at C-3 positively contributed to increase the MDR reversal activity of compounds 10, 12, and 13. Furthermore, in combination assays, compounds 1 and 7-14 enhanced synergistically the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin. Finally, by means of molecular docking, the key residues and binding modes by which compounds 1-14 may interact with a murine P-glycoprotein model were identified, allowing additional insights on the efflux modulation mechanism of these compounds.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2032-2040
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Natural Products
Volume81
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Sept 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy.

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