Yes / The hydrophobicity of a drug can be a major challenge in its development and prevents the clinical translation of highly potent anti-cancer agents. We have used a lipid-based nanoemulsion termed Lipid-Oil-Nanodroplets (LONDs) for the encapsulation and in vivo delivery of the poorly bioavailable Combretastatin A4 (CA4). Drug delivery with CA4 LONDs was assessed in a xenograft model of colorectal cancer. LC-MS/MS analysis revealed that CA4 LONDs, administered at a drug dose four times lower than drug control, achieved equivalent concentrations of CA4 intratumorally. We then attached CA4 LONDs to microbubbles (MBs) and targeted this construct to VEGFR2. A reduction in tumor perfusion was observed in CA4 LONDs-MBs treated tumors. A combination study with irinotecan demonstrated a greater reduction in tumor growth and perfusion (P = 0.01) compared to irinotecan alone. This study suggests that LONDs, either alone or attached to targeted MBs, have the potential to significantly enhance tumor-specific hydrophobic drug delivery. / The work was funded by the Medical Research Council (grant number: MR/L01629X MRC Medical Bioinformatics Centre) and the EPSRC (grant number EP/P023266/1 Health Impact Partnership). EPSRC (EP/I000623/1, EP/K023845/1). Laura E. McVeigh was funded by an EPSRC PhD Studentship (EP/L504993/1).

L'angiogénèse est un phénomène vital dans de nombreux processus physiologiques tels que le développement embryonnaire ou la cicatrisation. Mais c'est aussi un processus pathologique impliqué dans la croissance des tumeurs malignes, dans le développement des métastases et dans des maladies telles que l'endométriose, la dégénérescence Maculaire liée à l'âge (DMLA) et l'arthrose. La néovascularisation pathologique est dense et désordonnée contrairement à la néovascularisation physiologique, ce qui en fait une cible thérapeutique attrayante. Les agents perturbateurs vasculaires (VDA) sont une nouvelle classe de molécules bioactives qui détruisent sélectivement la néovascularisation tumorale et arrêtent l'apport sanguin aux tumeurs solides, provoquant une nécrose tumorale étendue. Parmi les VDA, les agents se liant à la tubuline sont principalement représentés. Le processus d'angiogénèse au sein de l'arthrose ainsi que le mode d'action des VDA nous amène a envisager l'utilisation de ses derniers en tant que nouveau traitement anti-arthrosique. Dans la recherche de nouveaux scaffolds VDA, nous avons d'abord comparé les activités biologiques de plusieurs VDA. Une classe en particulier a attiré notre attention sur laquelle seules quelques études avaient été menées. Cela nous a permis de sélectionner des pistes avec un espace chimique exploitable pour concevoir des scaffolds originaux. Cette thèse présentera les analogues qui ont été synthétisés, leur viabilité cellulaire sur les HUVEC (cellules endothéliales de la veine ombilical humaine) et leur activité sur l'inhibition de la polymérisation de la tubuline (ITP). / Angiogenesis is a vital phenomenon in many physiological processes such as embryonic development or wound healing. But it is also a pathological process involved in the growth of malignant tumors, in the development of metastases and in diseases such as endometriosis or age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and osteoarthritis. Pathological neovasculature is dense and disordered in contrast to physiological neovasculature, which makes it an attractive therapeutic target. Vascular Disrupting Agents (VDA) are a new class of bioactive molecules that selectively destroy tumour neovasculature and shut down blood supply to solid tumours, causing extensive tumour cell necrosis.1 Among small molecule VDAs, tubulin-binding agents are mostly represented. The process of angiogenesis within osteoarthritis as well as the mode of action of VDA leads us to consider the use of its last as a new anti-osteoarthritis treatment. In the search for novel VDA scaffolds, we first compared the biological activities of several VDA. One class in particular attracted our attention on which only a few studies had been conducted. This allowed us to select leads with exploitable chemical space to design original scaffolds. These thesis will present analogs which were synthesized, their cell viability on HUVEC (human umbilical vein endothelial cells) and their activity on tubulin polymerization inhibition (ITP).

Lors de son développement, une tumeur ne peut survivre sans passer par une étape invasive afin de subvenir à ses besoins en nutriment et en oxygène. Cette étape, appelé angiogénèse tumorale, conduit à la formation de vaisseaux sanguins dits « tumoraux », différents des vaisseaux sanguins normaux. Afin de stopper la croissance de la tumeur, il est possible de détruire les vaisseaux sanguins tumoraux formés pendant l’angiogénèse tumorale grâce à des molécules antivasculaires. Ces molécules vont désorganiser la structure du vaisseau et diminuer le flux sanguin au sein de la tumeur pour mener à la nécrose de cette dernière. Parmi ces molécules antivasculaires,la prodrogue phosphate de la combrétastatine A-4 naturelle (CA-4) est le composé actuellement le plus efficace(en développement clinique de phase III contre le cancer de la thyroïde). L’isocombrétastatine A-4 (isoCA-4),possédant une structure de type 1,1-diaryléthylène, est un analogue très puissant développé au laboratoire. Cette molécule est isomère de la CA-4 et permet d’obtenir les mêmes activités biologiques que la CA-4. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier ce motif 1,1-diaryléthylène dans le cadre de molécules cytotoxiques en synthétisant et en évaluant in vitro plusieurs séries de molécules de type « iso ». L’autre partie de cette thèse est dédiée à la synthèse d’analogues hétérocycliques de l’isoCA-4, qui permettront de réaliser les premières études de relation structure-activité sur l’isoCA-4, où son cycle B a été remplacé par un hétérocycle. Ce travail nous a permis de confirmer que la structure de l’isoCA-4 peut servir de base de travail pour développer d’autres agents antivasculaires. / For a tumor, the angiogenesis is a vital step for its development. The spread of the tumor is necessary characterized by an extension of the surrounding vasculature, in order to provide the nutriments and the oxygen required to the growth of the tumor. Resulting from the angiogenesis, the new tumorous blood vessels formed represent an excellent target to treat cancer by aiming specifically at the heart of the tumor. By means of vascular disrupting agents (VDA), it is possible to cut the tumor off the blood flow to trigger the necrosis within the tumor. Among the current VDA, the natural combretastatin A-4 (CA-4) is a strong compound that exhibits excellent antitumoral activities. An isomer of the CA-4, the isocombretastatin A-4 (isoCA-4), was developed inour laboratory to propose an alternative and a new family of VDA. The isoCA-4 is characterized by a 1,1-diarylethylene core, which we studied in this thesis, through 3 series of molecules related to this new structure inmedicinal chemistry. We also synthesized heterocyclic analogues of the isoCA-4, in order to explore the capacity of the isoCA-4 to serve as a basis for developing new antimitotic compounds.

Les travaux rapportés dans ce mémoire concernent le développement de nouveaux couplages pallado-catalysés de N-tosylhydrazones ainsi que leurs applications à la synthèse d’analogues de l’isocombrétastatine A4 (isoCA-4). La première partie du manuscrit est consacrée à l’étude de la réactivité de N-tosylhydrazones encombrées dans les couplages avec des halogénures d’aryle. Des conditions ont été mise au point afin d’avoir accès à des molécules 1,1-diaryléthylène ortho/ortho’-disubstituées en relation avec l’isoCA-4. Une autre partie de ce travail est dédiée au développement de réactions tandem impliquant une N-tosylhydrazone. Deux nouvelles transformations sont rapportées, une réaction tandem couplage de Barluenga-couplage de Buchwald-Hartwig, ainsi qu’une réaction tandem couplage de Barluenga-couplage de Suzuki-Miyaura. Dans le dernier chapitre, le couplage oxydatif d’indoles avec les N-tosylhydrazones a été examiné. Les N-vinylindoles synthétisés par ce couplage ont démontré des activités antiprolifératives prometteuses. / This thesis work concerns the development of new palladium catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of N-tosylhydrazones and their applications to the synthesis of isocombretastatin A4 (isoCA-4) analogs. The first part of this work is dedicated to the study of the reactivity of hindered N-tosylhydrazones in coupling with aryl halides. A protocol has been developed to synthesize ortho/ortho’-disubstituted 1,1-diarylethylenes related to isoCA-4. Another part of this thesis is dedicated to the development of tandem reactions involving N-tosylhydrazones. Two new reactions are reported, a Barluenga cross coupling-Buchwald-Hartwig cross coupling tandem reaction as well as a Barluenga cross coupling-Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling tandem reaction. In the last chapter, oxidative coupling of indoles with N-tosylhydrazones was examined. N-vinylindoles synthesized by this way showed promising antiproliferative activities.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Fabio Furlan Ferreira / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Nanociências e Materiais Avançados, 2017. / Atualmente, o câncer é um dos problemas de saúde pública mais complexos que o sistema de saúde brasileiro enfrenta, dada a sua magnitude epidemiológica, social e econômica. É bem sabido que a combretastatina A4 (CA-4), que é isolada a partir das cascas da árvore sul-africana, cujo nome científico é Combrettum caffrum, é utilizada para inibir a angiogênese, que consiste no crescimento de novos vasos sanguíneos a partir dos já existentes. No entanto, dependendo da dose administrada ao paciente, a CA-4 pode causar alguns efeitos colaterais. Aqui, será apresentada a caracterização físico-química de um novo derivado N-acilidrazônico - LASSBio-1735 - um análogo da CA-4. O LASSBio-1735 foi avaliado quanto a seus efeitos citotóxicos, por ensaios de MTT, frente às linhagens tumorais HL-60 (leucemia humana), SF-295 (glioblastoma humano), MDA-MB435 (melanoma) e HCT-8 (carcinoma ileocecal ¿ cólon), apresentando resultados promissores. Pudemos determinar com êxito as estruturas cristalinas - utilizando dados de difração de raios X por policristais e um procedimento de simulated annealing - das formas anidra e di-hidratada do composto sintetizado. Foi observado que os compostos cristalizaram em sistemas cristalinos ortorrômbicos, porém em distintos grupos espaciais. A forma anidra cristalizou no grupo espacial Pna21 e a forma hidratada no grupo espacial P212121. Os efeitos sobre a viabilidade celular das formas anidra e di-hidratada do LASSBio-1735 foram comparativamente avaliados em diferentes linhagens tumorais e a forma di-hidratada exibiu maior citotoxicidade frente a linhagem tumoral K562 (leucemia mieloide crônica). Os resultados de velocidade de dissolução intrínseca levaram-nos a classificar o LASSBio-1735 em suas diferentes formas como um fármaco de baixa solubilidade, tendo sido observado um ligeiro aumento da solubilidade da forma anidra quando comparada a forma di-hidratada. / Currently, cancer is one of the most complex public health problems faced by the Brazilian health system, given its epidemiological, social and economic magnitudes. It is well known that combretastatin A4 (CA-4), which is isolated from Combretum caffrum, is used to inhibit angiogenesis, which is related to the growth of new blood vessels from the existing ones. However, depending on the dose administered to the patient, it can cause some side-effects. Herein, we present the physicochemical characterization of a novel N-acylhydrazone derivative ¿ LASSBio-1735 ¿ a CA-4 analogue. LASSBio-1735 was evaluated for its cytotoxic effects, using MTT assays, against HL-60 (human leukemia), SF-295 (human glioblastoma), MDA-MB435 (melanoma) and HCT-8 (ileocecal adenocarcinoma) tumor cells, showing promising results. We could successfully determine the crystal structures ¿ by using X-ray powder diffraction data and a simulated annealing procedure ¿ of the anhydrous and hydrated forms of the as-synthesized compound. Both compounds crystallized in orthorhombic crystal systems but under different space groups. The anhydrous form crystallized in the Pna21 while the hydrated one in the P212121 space groups. The effects on cell viability of anhydrous and dihydrated forms of LASSBio-1735 were comparatively evaluated in different tumor cell lines, and the dihydrated form exhibited higher cytotoxicity against the K562 (human chronic myeloid leukemia) tumor cell line. The results of intrinsic dissolution rate lead us to classify LASSBio-1735 in its different forms as a pharmaceutical candidate with low solubility; however, a slight solubility increase of the anhydrous form when compared to the dihydrated one was found.

En 2015, on estime le nombre de nouveaux cas de cancer à plus de 385000 et le nombre de décès à 149500. Ces chiffres, plus élevés chez l'homme que chez la femme, connaissent ces dernières années une nette recrudescence chez les patients de sexe féminin. Globalement, la principale difficulté pour lutter contre les cancers se situe dans la capacité à les détecter avant qu'ils ne métastasent et dans les nombreux phénomènes de résistance aux traitements chimiothérapeutiques.De par son implication dans la croissance des cellules cancéreuses, le réseau vasculaire tumorale représente une cible intéressante ainsi qu'une alternative prometteuse aux traitements actuels. Ainsi, la classe de composés qualifiés de VDAs (pour « Vascular Disrupting Agents ») visent les cellules endothéliales ainsi que les péricytes, provoquant ainsi des phénomènes d'ischémie et de nécrose cellulaire. Un exemple de ce type de composés n'est autre que la Combrétastatine A-4 (ou CA-4), qui est un composé naturel extrait d'un arbuste sud-africain, le Combretum caffrum. Cette molécule a été pour la première fois étudiée par G.R. Pettit en 1989 qui a alors démontré qu'elle pouvait inhiber très efficacement la polymérisation des dimères α et β de tubuline en microtubules, résultant alors en la non-formation du cytosquelette, et l'apoptose de la cellule. Le développement de nouveaux analogues de la CA-4 s'avère crucial car ce composé dispose non seulement d'une solubilité réduite mais peut aussi être instable lorsqu'il est administré. Le travail effectué lors de cette thèse a donc consisté dans un premier temps en la synthèse de nouveaux dérivés de la CA-4 en remplaçant le noyau B par différents hétérocycles et en effectuant plusieurs pharmacomodulations ; ces derniers étant alors évalués pour leurs propriétés inhibitrices de la polymérisation de la tubuline et antiprolifératives. Avec plus de 24 millions de personnes touchées dans le monde, les pathologies neurodégénératives représentent un problème majeur de santé publique. Il est également très important de considérer l'incidence future de ces pathologies, et on estime à plus de 42 millions le nombre de personnes qui seraient atteintes par ce fléau d'ici à 2020. La famille des protéines kinases DYRK a fait l'objet ces dernières années d'une attention toute particulière de par son implication dans de nombreux phénomènes physiologiques et notamment au niveau des phases primaires du développement du système nerveux central. Plus spécifiquement, les kinases DYRK1A et DYRK1B ont été étudiées de par leurs implications dans de nombreux cancers (notamment le glioblastome) et certaines pathologies neurocérébrales. Le dérèglement de l'expression de ces protéines pourrait être la cause de retards mentaux, du développement de la maladie d'Alzheimer, de la trisomie 21, ainsi que de phénomènes de résistance. Nous avons identifié au sein de notre laboratoire une molécule inhibant ces 2 kinases. Initialement développé dans le but d'inhiber la protéine kinase CK2 (caséine kinase 2), notre composé a montré une activité inhibitrice et une sélectivité sur DYRK1A et DYRK1B. De par son activité, cette molécule est aujourd'hui notre composé « hit » et nous visons, à travers les travaux de cette thèse, la synthèse de multiples analogues dans le but d'améliorer l'activité initiale mais aussi sa spécificité sur DYRK1A ou sur DYRKB. Dans cette optique, nous avons réalisé différentes pharmacomodulations de nos composés dits « indénobenzo[b]thiophènes » et étudier les effets de tels composés sur DYRK1A, DYRK1B, DYRK2 mais aussi sur CK2. Ceci nous a permis d'affiner nos connaissances vis-à-vis des kinases de type DYRK et de sélectionner les molécules les plus prometteuses afin de (i) réaliser une étude autour de leurs caractéristiques physico-chimiques (Log P, solubilités dans différents solvants), (ii) d'analyser leurs comportements au niveau de la barrière hémato-encéphalique (BHE) et (iii) de réaliser des nano-encapsulations / Up to now, cancer is the second deadliest pathology in the World and is still considered as one of the most challenging public health issue. Globally, it has been assessed to be the main pathologic cause of death by the World Health Organization. This bad prognosis is partly due to the ability of cancer cells to give metastases but also to resistances phenomenon impeding drastically the effect of chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic treatments. As a consequence, there is currently a critical lack of effective treatments which would completely eradicate tumor cells, with minimal side effects. In spite of some difficulties in this competitive research area, the discovery of cancer therapeutics remains stimulating and we aim to achieve the synthesis of novel anticancer agents.Given its pivotal role in tumor growth and survival, the tumor vasculature represents an attractive target for anticancer therapy. Apart from angiogenesis inhibitors that compromise the formation of new blood vessels, the class of vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) targets endothelial cells and pericytes of the already established tumor vasculature, resulting in tumor ischemia and necrosis. A striking example of VDA is the combretastatin A-4, also known as CA-4, which was originally isolated from the bark of the South African willow tree Combretum caffrum by the American scientist G.R. Pettit in 1989. These products demonstrated to be efficient against a wide array of cancers such as breast, colon, lung or ovarian cell lines. New CA-4 analogs containing different heterocycles instead of the hydroxymethoxy substituted pharmacomodulable B ring were prepared and evaluated for their in cellulo tubulin polymerization inhibition and antiproliferative activities. In the other hand, tumor cell survival is a complex process which remains poorly understood. As part of the survival machinery, chemoresistances and DNA repairs are central elements regulated by a prosurvival/proapoptotic signal balance. Protein kinases are known to be directly involved in this signal transmission through molecular interactions. As such, DYRK kinases and most specifically DYRK1A/1B, were part of numerous recent studies due to their involvement in cancer and other pathologies. DYRK1B (also called Mirk kinase) is an ubiquitous kinase which was proved to be over-expressed in many cancers such as pancreatic, ovarian or colon. Its involvement as a regulator of DNA repair and tumor cell survival was assessed, phosphorylating specifically serine, threonine and tyrosine residues. Also, another closely related isoform known as DYRK1A, was mapped in the Down syndrome critical region located itself on chromosome 21. Interestingly, this kinase was not only uncovered to play a fundamental role in glioblastomas survival but was also associated with abnormal brain development in early stages and mental retardations. Particularly, DYRK1A was found to hyperphosphorylate microtubule-associated tau protein, resulting into genesis of neurofibrillary tangles. As a consequence, DYRK1A has become one of the most targeted proteins in order to improve cognitive impairment of patients suffering from Down syndrome or Alzheimer’s disease. Initially designed to target protein kinase CK2, one of our molecules was also tested on DYRK kinases. This compound exhibited a strong activity against DYRK1A/DYRK1B whilst being inactive on other protein kinases. Consequently, it was considered as our hit compound and (i) we synthetized derivatives as dual or single inhibitors of DYRK1A/DYRK1B, (ii) evaluated their biological activities (with emphasis on the blood brain barrier), and (iii) finally synthesized nanoparticles loaded with our inhibitors

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-04-04T13:49:10Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Tese Maria Ester Barros_CD_4.pdf: 6351675 bytes, checksum: 1634d753cabb911bd4c0cf8e58182237 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-04T13:49:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Tese Maria Ester Barros_CD_4.pdf: 6351675 bytes, checksum: 1634d753cabb911bd4c0cf8e58182237 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-01 / CNPQ / A primeira parte deste trabalho envolveu o estudo de docking molecular, a síntese, e a avaliação das atividades antitumorais e anti-inflamatórias de lactonas -insaturadas, análogos estruturais da (-)-Massoialactona, produto natural com conhecida atividade farmacológica. O alvo biológico selecionado para o estudo de docking foi a CRM-1, e tal estudo revelou o potencial biológico dos análogos propostos. Estes análogos foram sintetizados em rendimentos que variaram entre 65-75%, e as suas atividades antitumoral e anti-inflamatória foram avaliadas, sendo que um deles mostrou-se bastante promissor. Estudos posteriores de docking molecular da lactona mais promissora revelou que, apesar dos isômeros R e S assumirem diferentes encaixes no sítio ativo da CRM-1, não há diferença significativa na energia de ligação entre esses isômeros e o alvo molecular estudado. A segunda etapa deste trabalho envolveu o estudo de docking molecular, a síntese, e a avaliação da atividade antitumoral de Z-estilbenos, análogos da Combretastatina A-4 (CA-4). O alvo biológico selecionado para o estudo de docking molecular foi o domínio da colchicina na tubulina. Os cálculos teóricos dos análogos estruturais propostos revelaram que seis desses compostos apresentam diferenças significativas nos valores de energia de ligação quando comparados com o valor teórico calculado para a CA-4, ou seja, teoricamente seriam mais ativos que o produto natural. Dos análogos selecionados a partir do docking molecular, dois foram sintetizados em bons rendimentos empregando-se como precursores teluretos vinílicos e organotrifluoroboratos de potássio. A posterior avaliação da atividade antitumoral dos compostos sintetizados revelou que os resultados obtidos estavam em concordância com o previsto no estudo teórico. / The first part of this work involved the study of molecular docking, synthesis, and the evaluation of anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activities of unsaturated-lactones, structural analogues of (-)-Massoialactone, a natural product with known pharmacological activity. The biological target selected for the docking study was the CRM-1 and this study revealed the biological potential of the proposed analogues. These analogues were synthesized in yields ranging from 65-75%, and its anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated, being one of them very promising. Further studies of molecular docking using the most promising lactone revealed that despite the R and S isomers take different fittings in the active site of CRM-1, there is no significant difference in binding energy between these isomers and the molecular target studied. The second step of this work involved the study of molecular docking, synthesis, and evaluation of antitumor activity of Z-stilbenes, analogues of combretastatin A-4. The biological target selected for the study of molecular docking was the domain of colchicine in tubulin. Theoretical calculations of the proposed structural analogues revealed that six of these compounds shown significant differences in binding energy values compared to the theoretical values calculated for the CA-4, ie, theoretically, the proposed compounds would be more active than the natural product. From the selected analogs proposed by molecular docking, two were synthesized in good yields employing vinyl tellurides and potassium organotrifluoroborates as precursors. Further evaluation of the antitumor activity of the synthesized compounds showed that the results were in agreement with the theoretical study.

La combretastatine A-4 (CA-4), produit naturel isolé d’un arbuste d’Afrique du sud (Combretum caffrum K.), a montré des propriétés antitumorales intéressantes. Grâce à sa capacité à empêcher la polymérisation de la tubuline, ce stilbénoïde possède des propriétés cytostatiques sélectives à l’égard de différentes lignées cellulaires cancéreuses. Certains dérivés hydrosolubles de la CA-4 comme la CA-4P (fosbretabuline) et le composé AVE8062 (ombrabuline) sont actuellement en essais cliniques pour le traitement de différents cancers. Trois séries de dérivés de la CA-4 ont été synthétisées : les Z-stilbènes, les 1,2- diaryl-1,2-éthanediones et les 5,6-diaryl-2,3-dihydropyrazines. Dans ces composés, le cycle B est remplacé par divers hétérocycliques (indole, benzofurane, benzothiophène, thiophène) attachés à la position C2. Ces dérivés ont été évalués pour leur capacité à inhiber l'assemblage de la tubuline. Le produit Z-stilbènes portant un noyau benzo[b]thiophène a montré une activité antitubuline comparable à celle de la colchicine et de la deoxypodophyllotoxine. L’effet sur l'organisation intracellulaire des microtubules et les propriétés antimitotiques de ce composé ont été ensuite testés sur les lignées cellulaires de kératinocytes SKv-a et HaCaT. Enfin, des essais préliminaires de vectorisation de ce composé dans des nanoparticules lipidiques solides (SLN) ont été réalisés / Combretastatin A-4 (CA-4), a natural product first isolated from the South African bush willow tree (Combretum caffrum K.), possesses interesting antitumor properties. Due to its capacity to inhibit tubulin polymerization, this stilbenoid shows selective cytostatic activities against various cancer cell lines. Some water-soluble CA-4 derivatives such as CA-4P (fosbretabuline) and AVE8062 (ombrabuline) are currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of various cancers. Three series of CA-4 analogues, Z-stilbenes, 1,2-diaryl-1,2-ethanediones and 5,6-diaryl-2,3-dihydropyrazines, were synthesized. In these compounds, the B ring is replaced by various heterocycles (indole, benzofurane, benzothiophene or thiophene) attached at the C2 position. These derivatives were evaluated for their ability to inhibit tubulin assembly. Compound Z- stilbenes bearing a benzo[b]thiophene ring showed an antitubulin activity comparable to that of colchicine and deoxypodophyllotoxine. Its effect on the intracellular organization of microtubules and antimitotic properties were then tested on two keratinocyte cell lines HaCaT and SKV-a. Finally, preliminary essays to the vectorization of this compound in solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) were carried out