{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T16:26:41Z","timestamp":1782750401722,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,10]],"date-time":"2025-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739145600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board of Hong Kong","award":["9211315"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["9211315"]}]},{"name":"Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board of Hong Kong","award":["19-73-20074-P"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["19-73-20074-P"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006769","name":"Russian Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["9211315"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["9211315"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006769","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006769","name":"Russian Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["19-73-20074-P"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["19-73-20074-P"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006769","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceutics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Nitric oxide (NO) has been linked to the pathogenesis of asbestos-related pleural diseases, including an extremely aggressive cancer called malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Given that MPM cells are characterized by a higher expression of NO synthases and elevated NO production relative to normal cells, the use of NO-donor compounds could potentially saturate the cancerous cells with NO, triggering their death. Methods: We developed a novel class of NO prodrugs by merging two NO-releasing components, 1,2,5-oxadiazole 2-oxides (furoxans) and 1,2,4-oxadiazoles, and studied their NO-releasing characteristics in a time-dependent manner using the Griess assay. The cytotoxicity against two human MPM cell lines and non-cancerous lung fibroblasts was evaluated using a colorimetric MTT assay. Results: All compounds exhibited excellent NO-donating properties, surpassing the capacity of two reference NO donor compounds, 3-carbamoyl-4-(hydroxymethyl)furoxan (CAS-1609) and 4-ethoxy-3-phenylsulphonylfuroxan (CHF-2363), by at least 1.5\u20133 times. All oxadiazole hybrids demonstrated high cytotoxicity against MPM cell lines in a low micromolar range, comparable or higher than the cytotoxicity of the standard-of-care drug cisplatin. Conclusions: Notably, the novel compounds displayed a markedly greater selectivity towards cancerous cells than cisplatin when compared with non-cancerous lung fibroblasts, aligning with the intended design.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmaceutics17020230","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,11]],"date-time":"2025-02-11T09:36:05Z","timestamp":1739266565000},"page":"230","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Exploring the Anticancer Potential of NO-Donor Oxadiazole Assemblies Against Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6117-829X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Irina A.","family":"Stebletsova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 47 Leninsky Prosp., 119991 Moscow, Russia"},{"name":"Higher Chemical College of the Russian Academy of Science, D.I. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, 9 Miusskaya Square, 125047 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7862-2895","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexander A.","family":"Larin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 47 Leninsky Prosp., 119991 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Egor M.","family":"Matnurov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Drug Discovery Lab, Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ivan V.","family":"Ananyev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"N.S. Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 31 Leninsky Prosp., 119991 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2009-7837","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria V.","family":"Babak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Drug Discovery Lab, Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0203-1025","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Leonid L.","family":"Fershtat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 47 Leninsky Prosp., 119991 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jain, M., Crites, M.K., Rich, P., and Bajantri, B. (2024). Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A Comprehensive Review. J. Clin. Med., 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13195837"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"1454","article-title":"Update on the molecular biology of malignant mesothelioma","volume":"109","author":"Lee","year":"2007","journal-title":"Cancer Interdiscip. Int. J. Am. Cancer Soc."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"753","DOI":"10.5858\/arpa.2017-0365-RA","article-title":"Malignant mesothelioma and its non-asbestos causes","volume":"142","author":"Attanoos","year":"2018","journal-title":"Arch. Pathol. Lab. 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