@article{NchiozemNgnitedemSperlichMatietaetal.2023,
  author    = {Nchiozem-Ngnitedem, Vaderament-Alexe and Sperlich, Eric and Matieta, Valaire Yemene and Kuete, Jenifer Reine Ngnouzouba and Kuete, Victor and Omer, Ejlal A. A. and Efferth, Thomas and Schmidt, Bernd},
  title     = {Synthesis and bioactivity of isoflavones from ficus carica and some non-natural analogues},
  series = {Journal of natural products : Lloydia},
  volume    = {86},
  journal   = {Journal of natural products : Lloydia},
  number    = {6},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington, DC},
  issn      = {0163-3864},
  doi       = {10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00219},
  pages     = {1520 -- 1528},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {FicucariconeD (1) and its 4 '-demethyl congener 2 are isoflavones isolated from fruits of Ficus carica that share a 5,7-dimethoxy-6-prenyl-substituted A-ring. Both naturalproducts were, for the first time, obtained by chemical synthesisin six steps, starting from 2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone. Key stepsare a microwave-promoted tandem sequence of Claisen- and Cope-rearrangementsto install the 6-prenyl substituent and a Suzuki-Miyaura crosscoupling for installing the B-ring. By using various boronic acids,non-natural analogues become conveniently available. All compoundswere tested for cytotoxicity against drug-sensitive and drug-resistanthuman leukemia cell lines, but were found to be inactive. The compoundswere also tested for antimicrobial activities against a panel of eightGram-negative and two Gram-positive bacterial strains. Addition ofthe efflux pump inhibitor phenylalanine-arginine-beta-naphthylamide(PA beta N) significantly improved the antibiotic activity in mostcases, with MIC values as low as 2.5 mu M and activity improvementfactors as high as 128-fold.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{AdemMbavengKueteetal.2019,
  author    = {Adem, Fozia A. and Mbaveng, Armelle T. and Kuete, Victor and Heydenreich, Matthias and Ndakala, Albert and Irungu, Beatrice and Yenesew, Abiy and Efferth, Thomas},
  title     = {Cytotoxicity of isoflavones and biflavonoids from Ormocarpum kirkii towards multi-factorial drug resistant cancer},
  series = {Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology},
  volume    = {58},
  journal   = {Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {M{\"u}nchen},
  issn      = {0944-7113},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.phymed.2019.152853},
  pages     = {10},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {Background: While incidences of cancer are continuously increasing, drug resistance of malignant cells is observed towards almost all pharmaceuticals. Several isoflavonoids and flavonoids are known for their cytotoxicity towards various cancer cells. Methods: The cytotoxicity of compounds was determined based on the resazurin reduction assay. Caspases activation was evaluated using the caspase-Glo assay. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the cell cycle (propodium iodide (PI) staining), apoptosis (annexin V/PI staining), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) (JC-1) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) (H2DCFH-DA). CCRF-CEM leukemia cells were used as model cells for mechanistic studies. Results: Compounds 1, 2 and 4 displayed IC50 values below 20 mu M towards CCRF-CEM and CEM/ADR5000 leukemia cells, and were further tested towards a panel of 7 carcinoma cells. The IC50 values of the compounds against carcinoma cells varied from 16.90 mu M (in resistant U87MG.Delta EGFR glioblastoma cells) to 48.67 mu M (against HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells) for 1, from 7.85 mu M (in U87MG.Delta EGFR cells) to 14.44 mu M (in resistant MDA-MB231/BCRP breast adenocarcinoma cells) for 2, from 4.96 mu M (towards U87MG.Delta EGFRcells) to 7.76 mu M (against MDA-MB231/BCRP cells) for 4, and from 0.07 mu M (against MDA-MB231 cells) to 2.15 mu M (against HepG2 cells) for doxorubicin. Compounds 2 and 4 induced apoptosis in CCRF-CEM cells mediated by MMP alteration and increased ROS production. Conclusion: The present report indicates that isoflavones and biflavonoids from Ormocarpum kirkii are cytotoxic compounds with the potential of being exploited in cancer chemotherapy. Compounds 2 and 4 deserve further studies to develop new anticancer drugs to fight sensitive and resistant cancer cell lines.},
  language  = {en}
}