New 4-maleamic acid and 4-maleamide peptidyl chalcones as potential multitarget drugs for human prostate cancer.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of new 4-maleamic acid and 4-maleamide peptidyl chalcone derivatives against human prostate cancer in vitro and in vivo. From a series of 21 chalcones, the effects of the three best inhibitors of PC-3 and LNCaP cell viability on growth, including cell cycle changes, adhesion, migration, and cell invasion, as well as their ability to inhibit angiogenesis, clonogenic activity, and matrix metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9, were tested. The effects in vivo were studied in PC-3 and LNCaP xenografts. Three of the examined chalcones reduced cell viability in both cell lines in a strong dose- and time-dependent manner. An inhibition of the cell cycle progress was observed. These changes were accompanied with the inhibition of cell adhesion, migration, and invasion as well as with reduced neovascularization in chick embryos, tumor colony formation, and MMP-9 activity. The in vivo results demonstrated the strong activity of these structures as inhibitors of tumor development in nude mice compared to non-treated animals. The results suggest the multitarget efficacy of 4-maleamic acid and 4-maleamide peptidyl chalcones against human prostate cancer cells and emphasize the potential therapeutic relevance of these compounds.