Synthesis and evaluation of the anticancer activity of bischalcone analogs in human lung carcinoma (A549) cell line.

Bischalcone has gained much attention because of its wide range of application in pharmaceutical chemistry. This work aims to evaluate the antiproliferation effects and explore the anticancer mechanism of bischalcone analogs on human lung cancer A549 cells. In this study, we synthesized a series of bischalcone analogs via Aldol condensation reaction; MTT method was used to evaluate the antiproliferation effects; the 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein fluorescence assay was used to determine the intracellular reactive oxygen species levels; the glutathione reductase-DTNB recycling assay was used to detect the redox imbalance; determination of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance was used to evaluate the lipid peroxidation; Rhodamine 123 was used to test the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP); the FITC/PI kit was used to detect the apoptosis; Western blotting was used to detect the expression of Bax and Caspase 3. After treatment with curcumin and bischalcone analogs, compounds 1d and 1g, the more stabilities compounds than curcumin, exhibited much higher potency in A549 cells than curcumin and other bischalcone analogs. Further mechanism of action studies revealed that 1d and 1g exhibited more stronger reactive oxygen species production abilities than curcumin and accompanied by the redox imbalance, lipid peroxidation, the loss of MMP, the activition of Bax and Caspase 3, and ultimately resulted in apoptosis of A549 cell. These data suggest that enhancing the reactive oxygen species generation ability of bischalcone analogs may be a promising strategy for the treatment of human lung cancer.