Aim: To study the synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of p-(sulfamyl) benzylidene-linked hetero-cyclic ketone derivatives. Methods: A series of p-(sulfamyl) benzylidene-linked heterocyclic ketone derivatives were synthesized. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated against xylene-induced ear oedema in mice and against carrageenan-induced paw oedema in rats. Gastrointestinal side effects in the rats were also examined after continu-ous introgastric administration of these compounds once daily for 7 days. Results: Twelve compounds( LHZ-101-LHZ-112) were synthesized and their structures were confirmed by IR, ~1H NMR, MS and elemental analysis. LHZ-105, LHZ-106 and LHZ-111 exhibited marked anti-inflammatory activity in xylene-induced mice ear swelling model. LHZ-106 and LHZ-111 showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in carrageenan-induced rat paw ede-ma model. LHZ-105, LHZ-106 and LHZ-111 had less gastrointestinal side effects than diclofenac sodium and CI-1004. Conclusion: These results suggest that some of these compounds have the potential for anti-inflammatory activity with few gastrointestinal side effects.

Based on the reported inhibitors TH287, 17 five-membered heterocyclopyrimidine derivatives were designed and synthesized by cyclization, scaffold hopping, bioisosterism and molecular docking technology. The bioassays determined by malachite green method demonstrated that the target compounds displayed good inhibitory activity against MTH1. Among them, the IC50 value of 7 compounds was less than 1 μmol/L, suggesting that these compounds may be candidates for further investigation.

Based on the known IRAK4 inhibitors MK-32 and AU-5,we designed and synthesized 12 pyridine-based target compounds by adopting open-ring and hybrid strategies,and combining molecular docking technology.The bioassays determined by radioisotope labeling demonstrated that the target compounds displayed good inhibitory activity against IRAK4.Among them,the IC50 value of 5 compounds was less than 1 μmol/L,suggesting that these compounds may be candidates for further investigation.

Based on the reported IDO1 inhibitor U-3i,11 phenylsulfonamide derivatives were designed and syn-thesized by adopting bioisosterism and molecular docking technology.The inhibitory activities of the target compounds against IDO1 were determined by the HeLa cell-based kynurenine assay.The results demonstrated that most compounds showed different degrees of inhibitory effects on IDO1.Among them,compounds 3b and 3e displayed the most potent activity and could reverse IDO1-mediated immune suppression,which might be worth of further investigation.

The novel oleanolic acid derivatives 2a-2e were synthesized by introducing an α, β-unsaturated ketone moiety to C-ring of oleanolic acid(OA)via a nine-step reaction sequence, yielding an active CDDO-Me analogue(1), followed by coupling of C3-OH of 1 with various aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids, respectively. Derivatives 3a-3e were synthesized by substituting C-1 of compounds 2a-2e with bromine. The target compounds were characterized by IR, MS and 1H NMR spectra. All the target compounds showed strong inhibitory effects against two tumor cell lines(HepG2 and A549)to a varying extent. The anti-proliferative activities of active compounds 3b and 3c(IC50=6. 13±1. 16 μmol/L and IC50=5. 49±1. 03 μmol/L, respectively)against HepG2 and A549 were more potent than compound 1 and comparable to the positive control CDDO-Me. In addition, all the target compounds displayed much weaker anti-proliferative activity against the two tumor cell lines than that against normal BEAS-2B cells. Compound 3c showed ten-fold selective inhibition against HepG2 relative to BEAS-2B cells, and is thus worthy of further study.

In order to search for new anti-inflammatory agents with strong activity and less toxicity relative to CDDO-Me, the ester prodrugs 2-8 of CDDO-Me were synthesized by treatment of oleanolic acid(OA)with DMF/K2CO3 to generate 1, followed by esterification of 1 with various aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids, respectively. All the target compounds showed strong inhibitory effects on LPS-induced NO production in RAW 264. 7 cells. Among them, compounds 2 and 7 possessed the most potent inhibitory effects with IC50=(2. 34±0. 67)and(3. 83±0. 97)nmol/L, respectively. Moreover, MTT assay indicated that all the target compounds(2-8)displayed much weaker anti-proliferative activity against RAW 264. 7 cell lines than CDDO-Me, suggesting that they may be less toxic than CDDO-Me.