A novel piperine derivative HJ-23 exhibits anti-colorectal cancer effects by activating the p53 pathway.

There has been an increase in the incidence and poor prognosis of colorectal cancer in recent years. In several studies, piperine has been shown to inhibit colon cancer cell growth and induce apoptosis. This study aimed to investigate whether a novel piperine-derived compound, HJ-23 (2,2-difluorobenzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)(4-(2,4-difluorophenyl)piperazin-1-yl)methanone), can effectively inhibit the development of colorectal cancer through specific molecular mechanisms. The MTT method was used to evaluate the effect of HJ-23 on the viability of colorectal cancer cells. The effectiveness of the compound was further confirmed by antiproliferation experiments in cell and chicken embryo models. In addition, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was used to analyze changes in gene expression, and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to identify pathways regulated by HJ-23. MTT assay, clone formation assay, and chicken embryo assay all confirmed that HJ-23 could significantly inhibit the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. RNA-Seq analysis showed that HJ-23 significantly downregulated the expression of the tumor proliferation marker Mki67. GSEA showed that HJ-23 mainly regulated cell proliferation and cell cycle processes by activating the p53 pathway and inhibiting the E2F transcription factor (E2F) pathway. HJ-23 exhibits significant anti-tumor effects by activating the p53 pathway and inhibiting tumor cell proliferation. These findings suggest that HJ-23 is a promising drug candidate for treating colorectal cancer.