Symmetric bis-benzoxazole-based chemicals exerted anti-inflammatory effect on danger signal LPS-stimulated macrophages

Abstract

Inflammatory responses are generated against the danger molecules under normal conditions but excessive or chronic inflammation leads to tissue degeneration and loss of function. To prevent the disease symptoms associated with the inflammatory disorders or the growth of tumor types that require inflammatory environment, generation of immunomodulatory drugs with suppressive functions have great potentials. In this study, we synthesized new generation of anti-proliferative bis-benzoxazole derivatives and tested their anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer potencies. For this purpose, we used a well-characterized mouse macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7). Furthermore, anti-cancer activity of these compounds were tested using MTT assay on prostate (DU145) and breast (MCF7) cancer cells. The screening results revealed that all compounds possessed a high-level anti-inflammatory potential by reducing the expression of inflammatory cytokines in LPS-stimulated macrophages. There were significant and substantial reductions in the secreted TNFα, IL6, and IL1β levels by chemically treated LPS-induced macrophages compared to non-treated induced ones. Our compounds exerted their anti-inflammatory effect in a dose-dependent manner and they were biologically active even in low nanomolar range concentrations. Bis-benzoxazole derivatives had anti-proliferative effect on MCF-7 and DU-145 cancer cells. Together, our results present a series of new bis-benzoxazole-based compounds with potential therapeutic effects in inflammatory diseases and on tumor cells. .