# Novel harmine derivatives for tumor targeted therapy

## TL;DR

Researchers developed new versions of a plant compound called harmine to make it more effective and less toxic for cancer treatment.

## Contribution

The study introduces two novel harmine derivatives with improved therapeutic efficacy and reduced toxicity for targeted cancer therapy.

## Key findings

- Modified harmine derivatives 2DG-Har-01 and MET-Har-02 showed higher therapeutic effects than unmodified harmine.
- MET-Har-02 was more potent than 2DG-Har-01 in preclinical tests.
- The derivatives demonstrated potential for targeted cancer therapy with reduced systemic toxicity.

## Abstract

Harmine is a beta-carboline alkaloid found in medicinal plant PeganumHarmala, which has served as a folk anticancer medicine. However, clinical applications of harmine were limited by its low pharmacological effects and noticeable neurotoxicity. In this study, we modified harmine to increase the therapeutic efficacy and to decrease the systemic toxicity. Specifically, two tumor targeting harmine derivatives 2DG-Har-01 and MET-Har-02 were synthesized by modifying substituent in position-2, -7 and -9 of harmine ring with two different targeting group2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) and Methionine (Met), respectively. Their therapeutic efficacy and toxicity were investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Results suggested that the two newharmine derivatives displayed much higher therapeutic effects than non-modified harmine. In particular, MET-Har-02 was more potent than 2DG-Har-01 with promising potential for targeted cancer therapy.