Publications by authors named "Qing-Kun Shen"

Article Synopsis
  • * In this study, 41 derivatives of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) were synthesized, with one compound, A3, showing remarkable anti-proliferative effects against cancer cells, 16 times more potent than DHA.
  • * Compound A3 works through multiple mechanisms: it regulates key protein expressions that contribute to redox imbalance, triggers ferroptosis, induces apoptosis, and effectively inhibits tumor growth in a mouse model, suggesting it could be a promising anti-cancer drug candidate.
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Tumor proliferation and metastasis are intricately linked to blood vessel formation, with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) playing a pivotal role in orchestrating angiogenesis throughout tumor progression. Pseudolaric acid B (PAB) has emerged as a potent inhibitor of tumor cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. In efforts to enhance its efficacy, 37 derivatives of PAB were synthesized and assessed for their capacity to suppress VEGF secretion in SiHa cells under hypoxic conditions.

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Pseudolaric Acid B (PAB), a natural product with remarkable anti-tumor activity, is a starting point for new anticancer therapeutics. We designed and synthesized 27 PAB derivatives and evaluated their anti-proliferative activities against four cancer cell lines: MCF-7, HCT-116, HepG2, and A549. Compared with unmodified PAB, the PAB derivatives showed stronger anti-proliferative activity.

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The current review was undertaken to collate data on Gpx4 inhibitors and the regulatory proteins related to Gpx4. Gpx4 plays an essential role in ferroptosis; it can be used to determine the Gpx4 as an indicator for determining tumor occurrence and as a means of treating cancer. Although there is no market for Gpx4 inhibitors, many researchers have conducted extensive research, and some compounds have entered clinical research.

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Acute lung injury (ALI) is a clinically high mortality disease, which has not yet been effectively treated. The development of anti-ALI drugs is imminent. ALI can be effectively treated by inhibiting the inflammatory cascade and reducing the inflammatory response in the lung.

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Usnic acid has a variety of biological activities, and has been widely studied in the fields of antibacterial, immune stimulation, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antiparasitic. Based on this, usnic acid is used as the lead compound for structural modification. In order to enhance the biological activity and solubility of usnic acid, scholars have carried out a large number of structural modifications, and found some usnic acid derivatives to be of more potential research value.

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Maslinic acid has a variety of biological activities, such as anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-parasitic. In order to enhance the biological activity of maslinic acid, scholars have carried out a lot of structural modifications, and found some more valuable maslinic acid derivatives. In this paper, the structural modification, biological activity, and structure-activity relationship of maslinic acid were reviewed, providing references for the development of maslinic acid.

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Indole is a heterocyclic compound formed by the fusion of a benzene ring and pyrrole ring, which has rich biological activity. Many indole-containing compounds have been sold on the market due to their excellent pharmacological activity. For example, vincristine and reserpine have been widely used in clinical practice.

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It is reported that panaxadiol has neuroprotective effects. Previous studies have found that compound with carbamate structure introduced at the 3-OH position of 20 (R) -panaxadiol showed the most effective neuroprotective activity with an EC of 13.17 μM.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pyrazine is a nitrogen-containing six-membered ring, and many of its derivatives have important biological activities.
  • A review of studies published from 2000 to September 2023 focuses on natural product derivatives that include pyrazine, assessing their structure, biological effects, and mechanisms.
  • The findings suggest that pyrazine derivatives show diverse biological activities like anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects, often with improved potency and reduced toxicity compared to their original compounds.
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Hederagenin is a pentacyclic triterpenoid isolated from plants and widely distributed in a variety of medicinal plants. By integrating and analyzing external related literature reports, the latest research progress on the pharmacological effects and structural modification of hederagenin was reviewed. Hederagenin has a wide range of pharmacological activities, including antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, anti-neurodegenerative, antihyperlipidemic, antidiabetic, anti-leishmaniasis, and antiviral activities.

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Acute lung injury (ALI) are severe forms of diffuse lung disease that impose a substantial health burden all over the world. In the United States, approximately 190,000 cases per year of ALI each year, with an associated 74,500 deaths per year. Anti-inflammatory therapy has become a reasonable approach for the treatment of patients with ALI.

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Natural compounds are rich in pharmacological properties that are a hot topic in pharmaceutical research. The quinoline ring plays important roles in many biological processes in heterocycles. Many pharmacological compounds, including saquinavir and chloroquine, have been marketed as quinoline molecules with good anti-viral and anti-parasitic properties.

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Cucurbitacin B (CuB) is a potent but toxic anticancer natural product. Herein, we designed and synthesized 2-OH- and 16-OH-modified CuB derivatives to improve their antitumor efficacy and reduce toxicity. Among them, derivative had the most potent antiproliferative activity against A549 lung cancer cells (IC = 0.

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Acute lung injury (ALI) refers to a series of lung lesions resulting from multiple lung injuries, even leading to morbidity and death, abundant previous reports have showed that anti-inflammatory as a key to treatment of ALI. Fusidic acid (FA) as an antibiotic has significant anti-bacterial activity and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we designed and synthesized 34 FA derivatives to identify new anti-inflammatory drugs.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Mannich reaction is a key technique for adding nitrogen atoms to molecular compounds, making it essential in drug synthesis.
  • It plays a significant role in altering the structures of natural products, enhancing their medicinal properties, activity, and hydrophilicity.
  • This paper reviews the Mannich reaction's applications in modifying natural products, offering insights into effective structural modification methods.
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Alzheimer's disease (AD), a persistent neurological dysfunction, has an increasing prevalence with the aging of the world and seriously threatens the health of the elderly. Although there is currently no effective treatment for AD, researchers have not given up, and are committed to exploring the pathogenesis of AD and possible therapeutic drugs. Natural products have attracted considerable attention owing to their unique advantages.

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Natural products can generally exhibit a variety of biological activities, but most show mediocre performance in preliminary activity evaluation. Natural products often require structural modification to obtain promising lead compounds. Cinnamic acid (CA) is readily available and has diverse biological activities and low cytotoxicity.

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Background: Ginseng possesses antitumor effects, and ginsenosides are considered to be one of its main active chemical components. Ginsenosides can further be hydrolyzed to generate secondary saponins, and 20()-panaxotriol is an important sapogenin of ginsenosides. We aimed to synthesize a new ginsengenin derivative from 20()-panaxotriol and investigate its antitumor activity and .

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An extensive study was performed to discover a series of novel 20(R)-panaxadiol derivatives with various substituents at the 3-OH position as nontoxic, brain-permeable, multi-target leads for treating Alzheimer's disease. In vitro analysis revealed that a compound bearing benzyl-substituted carbamate, which we denoted compound 14a, exhibited the most potent neuroprotective activity, with an EC of 13.17 μM.

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Lotus () leaves are widely used for both edible and medicinal applications. For its further utilization, we studied the vasodilatory activity of lotus leaf extract for the first time. In this study, we obtained the extracts using different ratios of water and ethanol, which was followed by polarity-dependent extraction.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers designed and synthesized quillaic acid derivatives with various substituents on the 28-carboxyl group to test their effectiveness against human cancer cells.
  • Five cancer cell lines were examined, and some derivatives exhibited better antiproliferative activity compared to the original quillaic acid.
  • One specific compound showed significant efficacy, being about four times more effective than quillaic acid against HCT116 cells, and it works by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through specific cellular pathways.
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is a prevalent medicinal herb and a health supplement that is commonly used in Asia. Over the last few decades, the bioactive component arctigenin has attracted the attention of researchers because of its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, multiple sclerosis fighting, antitumor, and anti-leukemia properties. After summarising the research and literature on arctigenin, this study outlines the current status of research on pharmacological activity, total synthesis, and structural modification of arctigenin.

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Using dehydroabietic acid as the lead compound for structural modification, 25 dehydroabietic acid derivatives were synthesized. Among them, compound D1 not only showed the strongest relaxation effect on the aortic vascular ring in vitro (Emax = 99.5 ± 2.

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(), which has been used for thousands of years to treat cardiovascular diseases, is a well-known Chinese medicinal plant. The fat-soluble tanshinones in are important biologically active ingredients including tanshinone I, tanshinone IIA, dihydrotanshinone, and cryptotanshinone. Tanshinone I, a natural diterpenoid quinone compound widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, has a wide range of biological effects including anti-cancer, antioxidant, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory activities.

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