Synthesis and anti-tumor activity of oleanolic acid derivatives

Structural modifications were performed with natural product of oleanolic acid to search for novel anticancer drugs.  Ten oleanolic acid derivatives were designed and obtained by the reaction of oxidation, acylation or hydrolyzation, etc.  The cytotoxic activity of derivatives was evaluated against HeLa, HepG2 and BGC-823 cells in vitro by MTT assay, gefitinib and etoposide used as a positive control.  The results showed that compound 5a was particularly active to inhibit HepG2 cells growth, and anti-tumor activity of compound 7 on HeLa cells was significantly stronger than oleanolic acid.  They are worthy to be studied further.