Abstract
One of the keys for successfully developing drugs against the broad spectrum of cancer cell types is structural diversity. In the current study, we focused on a family of isosteviol derivatives as potential novel antitumor agents. Isosteviol is a tetracyclic diterpenoid obtained by acid hydrolysis of steviol glycoside extracts isolated from abundant Stevia rebaudiana plants. In this work, we have designed and synthesized a panel of isosteviol triazole conjugates using "click" chemistry methodology. Evaluation of these compounds against a series of cancer cell lines derived from primary and metastatic tumors demonstrated that these conjugates exhibit cytotoxic activities with IC50 in the low mu M range. In addition, their anti-proliferative activities are cancer cell type specific. Taken together, our studies underscore the importance of structural diversity in achieving cancer cell type specific drug development.