Synthesis and inhibitory effects of some novel 1,3-diarylprop-2-en-1-one analogues in Foxp3 expression: a novel class of anti-cancer candidates.

A series of novel analogues of 1,3-diarylprop-2-en-1-one (3a-m) were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activity of FOX P3 gene expression and apoptosis in CD4(+)T cells that had been isolated from the spleen of 8 to 10 weeks old mice. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the R1 and R2 modification was studied to identify a candidate with the maximum potency. Of these compounds, 3d showed the highest inhibitory activity of FOX P3 gene expression and apoptosis (66.5 % inhibition at 10 μM). To the best of the authors' knowledge this is the first report of 1,3- diarylprop-2-en-1-ones as regulators of FOX P3 gene expression.