Synthesis and potential cytotoxic activity of new phenanthrylphenol-pyrrolobenzodiazepines.

New phenanthrylphenol-pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PP-PBD) conjugates have been synthesized and evaluated for their biological activity. One of the compounds 4a has been evaluated for its antiproliferative activity on 57 human tumour cell lines. The growth inhibition of 4a-c has been determined by MTT viability assay on MCF-7 cell line. Among them, 4c showed most potent growth inhibition. Based on this, an attempt was made to rationalize their mechanism of action through cell cycle analysis and DNA interaction studies. The effect of the lead compound 4c on MCF-7 cell growth associated with cell cycle arrest in G1 phase, followed by apoptosis. Our findings suggested the phenanthrylphenol-PBD conjugate 4c, which is a cyclin D1 inhibitor could be considered as a promising lead compound against breast cancer for further investigation. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.