Design, synthesis, and evaluation of a water-soluble antofine analogue with high antiproliferative and antitumor activity.

New water soluble antofine C-13a analogues were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for antiproliferative activity against cancer cells. Particularly, (-)-(R)-13a-hydroxymethylantofine ((-)-(R)-4b) demonstrated notable growth inhibition against a panel of human cancer cell lines. This growth inhibition was associated with the arrest of the cell cycle in the G0/G1 phases and suppression of mTOR signaling in human lung A549 cancer cells. Compound (-)-(R)-4b also overcame paclitaxel-resistance in human lung cancer cells (A549-Pa) by suppressing P-glycoprotein expression. Furthermore, compound (-)-(R)-4b significantly inhibited the tumor growth of A549 and A549-Pa xenografts in a nude mouse model, which suggests it is a promising novel antitumor agent with sufficient aqueous solubility.