Resumen:
A series of 30 novel N,N disubstituted selenoureas were synthesized, characterized, and
their antioxidant ability was tested using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,20-azinobis(
3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. Additionally, their cytotoxic activity was
tested in vitro in a panel of three different cancer (breast, lung and colon) and two normal cell lines.
Each selenourea entity contains a para-substituted phenyl ring with different electron-withdrawing
and electron-donating groups, and different aliphatic and aromatic nuclei. All of the synthesized
selenoureas present antioxidant capacity at high concentrations in the DPPH assay, and three of them
(2b, 2c and 2d) showed greater radical scavenging capacity than ascorbic acid at lower concentrations.
These results were confirmed by the ABTS assay, where these novel selenoureas present even higher
antioxidant capacity than the reference compound Trolox. On the other hand, 10 selenoureas present
IC50 values below 10 M in at least one cancer cell line, resulting in the adamantyl nucleus (6a¿
6e), the most interesting in terms of activity and selectivity. Outstanding results were found for
selenourea 6c, tested in the NCI60 cell line panel and showing an average GI50 of 1.49 M for the
60 cell lines, and LC50 values ranging from 9.33 M to 4.27 M against 10 of these cancer cell lines.
To gain insight into its anticancer activity mechanism, we investigated the cell cycle progression
of the promising c
