The invention concerns the development of new chemical compounds, derivatives of usnic acid named Raj-415 and Raj-432, obtained by chemical synthesis. They possess antiproliferative activity against cancer cells of various origins, even at low concentrations. In addition, these compounds induce characteristic changes in cancer cells involving strong vacuolization, contributing to cancer cell death. In cytotoxicity tests, Raj-415 and Raj-432 compounds were shown to inhibit the viability of all cancer cell lines tested, i.e. breast cancer cell line MCF-7, cervical cancer cell line HeLa and prostate cancer cell line PC-3, while having no cytotoxic effect on healthy human fibroblast cells HDFa.
Usnic acid is a well-known biologically active compound isolated from lichens, characterized by a wide spectrum of effects on living organisms, both plant and animal, as well as humans. It exhibits a wide range of properties such as antiviral, antifungal, antimicrobial, antiprotozoal and immunomodulatory.
Its activity is also known:
-photoprotective,
-anti-inflammatory,
-analgesic and antipyretic
