Antioxidant-Inspired Drug Discovery: Antitumor Metabolite Is Formed in Situ from a Hydroxycinnamic Acid Derivative upon Free-Radical Scavenging

Cancer cells generally possess higher levels of reactive oxygen species than normal cells, and this can serve as a possible therapeutic target. In this proof-of-concept study, an antioxidant-inspired drug discovery strategy was evaluated using a hydroxycinnamic acid derivative. The processing of oxidized mixtures of p-coumaric acid methyl ester (pcm) revealed a new antitumor lead, graviquinone. Graviquinone bypassed ABCB1-mediated resistance, induced DNA damage in lung carcinoma cells but exerted DNA protective activity in normal keratinocytes, and modulated DNA damage response in MCF-7 cells. The cytotoxic effect of pcm in MCF-7 cells was potentiated under H2O2-induced oxidative stress, and the formation of graviquinone was confirmed by Fenton’s reaction on pcm. In silico density functional theory calculations suggested graviquinone as a kinetic product of pcm-scavenging •OH radicals. Our results demonstrate the pharmacological value of an in situ-formed, oxidative stress-related metabolite of an antioxidant. This might be of particular importance for designing new strategies for antioxidant-based drug discovery.