Design,Synthesis and Antitubulin Activity of Novel Podophyllotoxin Derivatives as Potent Anticancer Agent

Twenty novel podophyllotoxin derivatives(1―20) were designed and synthesized. The anti-proliferation activities of these compounds were evaluated against three human cancer cell lines(HepG2, Calu-1 and MCF-7) using podophyllotoxin and Combretastatin A4(CA-4) as positive controls. Among all the compounds, compound 2 displayed more significant anti-proliferation activities against MCF-7 and Calu-1 cell lines and showed lower toxicity towards non-cancer cells. Furthermore, the cell cycle and apoptosis analysis results revealed that compound 2 can cause cell arrest at G2/M phase, leading to cancer cell apoptosis. Meanwhile, it can also reduce the adhesive ability of Calu-1 cells to fibronectin and laminin. The docking simulation results demonstrated that compound 10 can nicely bind to the colchicine site of tubulin. The podophyllotoxin derivatives are worthy to be further investigated to obtain more potent anti-cancer drugs.     

New 1,3,4-Thiadiazole Derivatives with Anticancer Activity

We designed and synthesized the 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives differing in the structure of the substituents in C2 and C5 positions. The cytotoxic activity of the obtained compounds was then determined in biological studies using MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and normal cell line (fibroblasts). The results showed that in both breast cancer cell lines, the strongest anti-proliferative activity was exerted by 2-(2-trifluorometylophenylamino)-5-(3-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole. The IC₅₀ values of this compound against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were 49.6 µM and 53.4 µM, respectively. Importantly, all new compounds had weaker cytotoxic activity on normal cell line than on breast cancer cell lines. In silico studies demonstrated a possible multitarget mode of action for the synthesized compounds. The most likely mechanism of action for the new compounds is connected with the activities of Caspase 3 and Caspase 8 and activation of BAX proteins.     

Synthesis and anti-proliferative activity studies of 2-(2-(trifluoromethyl)-6-(substituted)imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-3-yl)-N-(substituted)acetamide derivatives

A series of novel imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-3-yl acetamide derivatives (9a-9j) were synthesized from a 3,6-dichloropyridazine. We have developed a simple strategy for the synthesis of functionally diverse imidazole, and pyridiazine derivatives were reported via a series of steps. The work involves bicyclic imidazo-pyridazine ring formation, halogenation, cynation, hydrolysis, peptide coupling, and Buchwald reaction. The structure of the synthesized compounds was confirmed by IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR,¹⁹F NMR, mass spectra, and elemental analysis, and purity is checked by HPLC. All synthesized compounds were screened for anticancer activity against A-549 and Du-145 cancer cell lines by MTT assay. The preliminary bioassay suggests that most of the compounds show anti-proliferation with different degrees; doxorubicin was used as positive control. The synthesized compound shows IC₅₀ values in the range of 1.74μM to 16.17μM in both cell lines. The compounds 9e , 9g , and 9h were active compared with doxorubicin in both the cell lines. The compounds having cyclopentyl ring are active compared with higher and lower carbon analogues.     

Synthesis,biological evaluation,and docking study of a series of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazole derivatives with an indole-triazole-peptide conjugate

A series of new compounds containing an indole-triazole - peptide conjugate were designed as potential agents possessing the dual anti-bacterial and anticancer activities. Accordingly, 20 compounds were prepared via a multi-step synthesis involving the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) as a key step in moderate to high yield. All the synthesized compounds were purified by chromatographic techniques and characterized by IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR and mass spectral data. The synthesized derivatives were screened for their antimicrobial activities against one gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and three gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Proteus vulgaris) bacteria using an agar-well diffusion method. Most of the compounds showed moderate to reasonable antibacterial activities especially the compound 9e that showed good activities against all the strains. The potential of DNA gyrase inhibitory activity of this compound was assessed by using molecular docking studies in silico carried out using Autodock Vina software. The low ΔG_bind value (−9.4 Kcal/mol) of compound 9e suggested its good interactions with the target protein in silico. The cytotoxic activities of some of the compounds synthesized were evaluated via a MTT assay using the human lung cancer cell line A549. Several compounds showed promising activities among which compound 9b , 9k, and 9e showed low IC₅₀ values.     

3D-QSAR study,docking molecular and simulation dynamic on series of benzimidazole derivatives as anti-cancer agents

Benzimidazole is an important heterocyclic organic compound which has a structural analogy to nucleotides found in human body and hence is an important pharmacophore in medicinal chemistry. The anti-cancer activities for a diverse set of benzimidazole as anti-cancer agents against breast cancer cell line (MCF7) assay have been subjected to 3D-QSAR (3-Dimensional Quantitative Structural-Activity Relationship) studies. Both CoMFA and CoMSIA models exhibit significant results in terms of statistical parameters as determination coefficients R² > 0.9 and Leave One Out cross-validation determination coefficients Q²> 6. The predictive quality of both 3D QSAR models have been assessed by external validation and Y-randomization test. Five new compounds have been designed and predicted by in silico ADMET method. In the second part, we have used the docking molecular and simulation dynamics (MD) to investigate the bonding interactions and stability of the designed compounds into the Pin1. Then, we have compared them to Trastuzumab and Tamoxifen as a standard inhibitors drug of breast cancer. The designed compounds form stable hydrogen and hydrophobic bonding interactions with the residues Lys63, Gln131, Ser154, Arg 68 and Arg69 of Pin1 receptor during 100 ns as a time of the simulation. The obtained results showed that the new benzimidazole are useful as a template for future design of more potent inhibitors against breast cancer cell lines (MCF7).     

Discovery of Novel Diarylamide N-Containing Heterocyclic Derivatives as New Tubulin Polymerization Inhibitors with Anti-Cancer Activity

Tubulin has been regarded as an attractive and successful molecular target in cancer therapy and drug discovery. Vicinal diaryl is a simple scaffold found in many colchicine site tubulin inhibitors, which is also an important pharmacophoric point of tubulin binding and anti-cancer activity. As the continuation of our research work on colchicine binding site tubulin inhibitors, we designed and synthesized a series of diarylamide N-containing heterocyclic derivatives by the combination of vicinal diaryl core and N-containing heterocyclic skeletons into one hybrid though proper linkers. Among of these compounds, compound 15b containing a 5-methoxyindole group exhibited the most potent inhibitory activity against the tested three human cancer cell lines (MGC-803, PC-3 and EC-109) with IC₅₀ values of 1.56 μM, 3.56 μM and 14.5 μM, respectively. Besides, the SARs of these compounds were preliminarily studied and summarized. The most active compound 15b produced the inhibition of tubulin polymerization in a dose-dependent manner and caused microtubule network disruption in MGC-803 cells. Therefore, compound 15b was identified as a novel tubulin polymerization inhibitor targeting the colchicine binding site. In addition, the results of molecular docking also suggested compound 15b could tightly bind into the colchicine binding site of β-tubulin.     

Design,Synthesis and Anticancer Activity of Novel 6-（Aminophenyl）-2,4-bismorpholino-1,3,5-triazine Derivatives Bearing Arylmethylene Hydrazine Moiety

In an attempt to develop potent and selective anticancer agents,we designed and synthesized a series of novel bis（morpholino-1,3,5-triazine） derivatives beating aylmethylene hydrazine moiety and evaluated their cytotoxicity,in vitro,against H460（non-small-cell lung cancer）,HT-29（human colorectal cancer） and MDA-MB-231（human breast cancer） cell lines.The pharmacological results indicate that all the compounds exhibit enhanced cytotoxicity than BMCL-200908069-1,and six target compounds（7e,7h,7j,9a,9b,9c） were superior to PAC-1 against all the tested cancer cell lines.The most active compound 7j,with IC50（inhibitory concentration 50％）values of 0.75,0.34 and 0.60 μ mol/L against HT-29,H460 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines,was 39-,28-,and 60-fold more potent than BMCL-200908069-1 （29.24,9.52 and 36.21 μmol/L）,respectively.     

Coumarin Sulfonamides and Amides Derivatives: Design,Synthesis, and Antitumor Activity In Vitro

Coumarins possesses immeasurable antitumor potential with minimum side effects depending on the substitutions on the basic nucleus, which exhibits great prospects for antitumor drug development. In an attempt to develop novel antitumor candidates, a series of coumarin sulfonamides and amides derivatives were designed and synthetized. The majority of these derivatives showed good cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231 and KB cell lines, among which compound 9c was the most potent against MDA-MB-231 cells, with IC₅₀ value of 9.33 μM, comparable to 5-fluorouracil. Further investigation revealed that compound 9c had versatile properties against tumors, including inhibition of cell migration and invasion as well as inducing apoptosis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay and western blotting analysis suggested that compound 9c promoted cancer cell apoptosis by increasing ROS levels and upregulating the expression of caspase-3 in MDA-MB-231 cells. These results indicated that compound 9c could be promising lead compound for further antitumor drug research.     

Synthesis and Biological Screening of New Cyano-Substituted Pyrrole Fused (Iso)Quinoline Derivatives

Several new cyano-substituted derivatives with pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoline and pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline scaffolds were synthesized by the [3 + 2] cycloaddition of (iso)quinolinium ylides to fumaronitrile. The cycloimmonium ylides reacted in situ as 1,3-dipoles with fumaronitrile to selectively form distinct final compounds, depending on the structure of the (iso)quinolinium salt. Eleven compounds were evaluated for their anticancer activity against a panel of 60 human cancer cell lines. The most potent compound 9a showed a broad spectrum of antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines representing leukemia, melanoma and cancer of lung, colon, central nervous system, ovary, kidney, breast and prostate cancer. In vitro assays and molecular docking revealed tubulin interaction properties of compound 9a.     

Synthesis and in vitro antitumor activity of novel diaryl urea derivatives

A series of novel diaryl ureas containing 4-[（2-amino-6-trifluromethyl）pyrimidine-4-yl]piperazine-l-yl group were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities in a panel of human cancer cell lines. Compared with the reference drug Sorafenib,some compounds showed more potent and a broader spectrum of anti-cancer activities.Among them,compound 2p demonstrated significant inhibitory activities against MDA-MB-231,HT-29 and MCF-7 cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 0.016,0.63,0.001μmol/L, respectively.     

N9位芳基取代嘌呤-8-酮类衍生物的合成及抗肿瘤活性

合成了一系列N9位芳基取代嘌呤-8-酮类衍生物, 利用核磁共振氢谱(¹H NMR)、 核磁共振碳谱(¹³C NMR)和高分辨质谱(HRMS)进行了结构确证. 采用四甲基偶氮唑盐(MTT)法测定了目标化合物的体外抗肿瘤细胞增殖活性. 结果表明, 嘌呤酮环的C2位及N9位的取代对活性有较大影响, C2位引入对位由含氮六元环取代的苯胺, N9位引入对三氟甲基苯均有利于提高抗肿瘤活性. 化合物12c对人白血病细胞(K562)、 人前列腺癌细胞(PC-3)、 人乳腺癌细胞(MDA-MB-231)及人结肠癌细胞(HCT116)的抑制效果明显优于阳性对照药R-Roscovitine.     

Synthesis,cytotoxicity, apoptosis and molecular docking studies of novel phenylbutyrate derivatives as potential anticancer agents

Phenylbutyrate (PB), a small aromatic fatty acid, has been known as an interesting compound with the ability of anti-proliferation and cell growth inhibition in cancer cells. In the present study, a series of PB derivatives were synthesized by Passerini multicomponent reaction and their cytotoxic activities against various human cancer cell lines including A549 (non-small cell lung cancer), MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer), and SW1116 (colon cancer) were evaluated. The results revealed that B9, displayed significantly higher in vitro cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ of 6.65, 8.44 and 24.71 μM, against A549, MDA-MB-231 and, SW1116, respectively, in comparison to PB. The effects of these compounds on the proliferation of MCF-10A as non-tumoral breast cell line, showed good selectivity of the compounds between tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cell lines. Moreover, B9 has indicated apoptosis-inducing activities to MDA-MB-231 cancer cell line in a dose-dependent manner. The molecular docking studies of the synthesized compounds on pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 2 (PDK2; PDB ID: 2BU8) and histone deacetylase complex (HDAC; PDB ID: 1C3R), as the main targets of PB were applied to predict the binding sites and binding orientation of the compounds to these targets.     

Synthesis,characterization, and cytotoxic activity studies of new N4O complexes derived from 2-({3-[2-morpholinoethylamino]-N3-([pyridine-2-yl]methyl) propylimino} methyl)phenol

A new unsymmetrical five-coordinate Schiff base ligand (HL) with an N₄O donor set ( 2 ) has been prepared by condensation of N1-(2-morpholinoethyl)-N1-([pyridine-2-yl]methyl)propane-1,3-diamine with 2-hydroxy-benzaldehyde. Metal complexes [ML]ⁿ⁺ (M = Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Ag⁺, Fe³⁺, and Co²⁺ ( 3–10 ) were synthesized by the reaction of the ligand and metal salts in ethanol. The resulting products were characterized by elemental analyses, infrared, ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra (in the case of Cd and Zn complexes), UV–Vis, electrospray ionization-mass spectrometric, and conductivity measurements. The structure of the complexes [ZnL](ClO₄) ( 3 ), [CdL](ClO₄) ( 4 ), and [CuL](ClO₄) ( 7 ) has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The metal complexes were determined to have a distorted trigonal bipyramidal (Zn and Cd) or a distorted square pyramidal (Cu) geometry. The cytotoxic potential of each compound (1–10) against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer cells), PC-3 (prostate cancer cells), and WI-38 human normal lung fibroblast cells was evaluated using the MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. Compounds 1, 2, and 10 did not display any activity toward any cell line tested. None of the compounds except compound 8 was cytotoxic toward PC-3. Compounds 4 and 8 showed the highest cytotoxic activity against the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Because compounds 3, 6, and 9 have similar half-maximal inhibitory concentration values against cancer cells and normal cells, these compounds displayed poor selectivity between cancer and normal cells. More importantly, it was observed that compound 5 acts differently toward different types of cell lines. For example, it displays lower cytotoxicity against the WI-38 normal cell line than it does against the MDA-MB-231 cell line.     

Synthesis and evaluation of antiproliferative activity of substituted N-(9-oxo-9H-xanthen-4-yl)benzenesulfonamides

Several novel N-(9-oxo-9H-xanthen-4-yl)benzenesulfonamide derivatives were prepared as potential antiproliferative agents. The in vitro antiproliferative activity of the synthesized compounds was investigated against a panel of tumor cell lines including breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, T-47D) and neuroblastoma cell line (SK-N-MC) using MTT colorimetric assay. Etoposide, a well-known anticancer drug, was used as a positive standard drug. Among synthesized compounds, 4-methoxy-N-(9-oxo-9H-xanthen-4-yl)benzenesulfonamide (5i) showed the highest antiproliferative activity against MDA-MB-231, T-47D, and SK-N-MC cells. Furthermore, pentafluoro derivatives 5a and 6a exhibited higher antiproliferative activity than doxorubicin against human leukemia cell line (CCRF-CEM) and breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-468) cells. Structure–activity relationship studies revealed that xanthone benzenesulfonamide hybrid compounds can be used for the development of new lead anticancer agents.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of 2,5-disubstituted pyrimido[5,4-c]quinoline derivatives

A series of 2,5-disubstituted pyrimido[5,4-c]quinoline derivatives were synthesized and their cytotoxic activity against H460, HT-29 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines was evaluated in vitro.It was found that most of the tested compounds especially compound 17, shown stronger activity to the selected three cell lines than ZM447439.     

The Design,Synthesis, and Biological Activities of Pyrrole-Based Carboxamides: The Novel Tubulin Inhibitors Targeting the Colchicine-Binding Site

Microtubule targeting agents (MTAs) that interfere with the dynamic state of the mitotic spindle are well-known and effective chemotherapeutic agents. These agents interrupt the microtubule network via polymerization or depolymerization, halting the cell cycle progression and leading to apoptosis. We report two novel pyrrole-based carboxamides (CAs) (CA-61 and -84) as the compounds exhibiting potent anti-cancer properties against a broad spectrum of epithelial cancer cell lines, including breast, lung, and prostate cancer. The anti-cancer activity of CAs is due to their ability to interfere with the microtubules network and inhibit tubulin polymerization. Molecular docking demonstrated an efficient binding between these ligands and the colchicine-binding site on the tubulin. CA-61 formed two hydrogen bond interactions with THR 179 (B) and THR 353 (B), whereas two hydrogen bonds with LYS 254 (B) and 1 with ASN 101 (A) were identified for CA-84. The binding energy for CA-84 and CA-61 was −9.910 kcal/mol and −9.390 kcal/mol. A tubulin polymerization assay revealed a strong inhibition of tubulin polymerization induced by CA-61 and -84. The immunofluorescence data revealed the disruption of the tubulin assembly in CA-treated cancer cells. As an outcome of the tubulin inhibition, these compounds halted the cell cycle progression in the G2/M phase, leading to the accumulation of the mitotic cells, and further induced apoptosis. Lastly, the in vivo study indicated that CAs significantly inhibited the HCC1806 breast cancer xenograft tumor growth in a nude mouse model. Collectively, we identified the novel CAs as potent MTAs, inhibiting tubulin polymerization via binding to the colchicine-binding site, disrupting the microtubule network, and exhibiting potent pro-apoptotic activities against the epithelial cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo.     

New Trimethoxybenzamides and Trimethoxyphenylureas Derived from Dimethylcarbazole as Cytotoxic Agents. Part I

A convenient synthesis of novel functionalized 1,4‐dimethylcarbazole derivatives containing 3,4,5‐trimethoxybenzamido‐ureido or N‐(3,4,5‐trimethoxyphenyl)ureido group starting from their corresponding indole derivatives is reported. Three derivatives prepared ( 5g , 6c , and 6g ) were active against leukemia cell lines HL60. Both 5g and 6g showed potent antiproliferative activity against KB cell lines, likely associated with the inhibition of tubulin polymerization.     

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel 5,7-Diphenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine Derivatives

A series of novel 5,7-diphenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives was designed and synthesized. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of all the target compounds against human colorectal cancer（HT-29）, human lung can- cer（H460）, human gastric cancer（MKN45） and human breast cancer（MDA-MB-231） cell lines were evaluated. The pharmacological results indicated that most of the target compounds showed moderate to excellent activities against the tested cell lines. The most promising compound 4h（0.20, 0.006, 0.08, 0.021 μmol/L） was 2.6, 5.1, 3.6 and 21.9 times more active than EPC2407（0.52, 0.031, 0.29, 0.46 μmol/L） against HT-29, H460, MKN45 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines, respectively.     

Synthesis and in vitro cytotoxic evaluation of 2-hydrazinylpyrido[2,3-b]pyrazin-3(4H)-one derivatives

A series of novel 2-hydrazinylpyrido[2,3-b]pyrazin-3（4H）-one derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against A549,MDA-MB-231 and HT-29 cell lines in vitro.Pharmacological data indicated that compounds 5b,5c,10a and 10g possessed marked cytotoxicity,especially 10a(with IC₅₀ values of 0.81,2.56 and 1.63μmol/L against A549,MDA-MB- 23 1 and HT29 cell lines,respectively),which had emerged as a lead compound.     

Synthesis and Antitumor Evaluation of Novel Hybrids of Phenylsulfonylfuroxan and Estradiol Derivatives

Fifteen novel furoxan-based nitric oxide (NO) releasing hybrids of estradiol derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in vitro anti-proliferative activity in MDA-MB-231, A2780, Hela and HUVEC cell lines. Most of them displayed potent anti-proliferative effects. Among the compounds, 4-bromo-3-((phenylsulfonyl)-1,2,5-oxadiazole 2-oxide)-oxy-propoxy-estradiol ( 11 b ) exhibited the best activity with IC₅₀ values of 3.58–0.0008 μM. Preliminary pharmacological studies showed that 11 b induced apoptosis and hardly affected the cell cycle of MDA-MB-231 cell line. NO-releasing capacity and inhibition of ERK/MAPK pathway signaling might explain the potent antineoplastic activity of these compounds. The preliminary structure-activity relationship (SAR) showed that steroidal scaffolds with a linker in 3-position were favorable moieties to evidently increase the bioactivities of these hybrids. Overall, these results implied that 11 b merited to be further investigated as a promising anti-cancer candidate.