Structure-activity relationships and antiproliferative effects of 1,2,3,4-4H-quinoxaline derivatives as tubulin polymerization inhibitors

A novel green and efficient heterogeneous acid catalyst for the one-pot synthesis of benzopyrazine-aminoimidazole hybrids with antiproliferative potential

A novel, green, efficient, and stable magnetically heterogeneous nanocatalyst was developed by immobilizing butanesulfonic acid (BuSO3H) onto the surface of MFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). The resulting core-shell structure of the MFe2O4@PDA@BuSO3H nanocatalyst was thoroughly characterized using various analytical techniques, including Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. A nanocatalyst was used to synthesize 2-benzopyrazine-aminoimidazole hybrid derivatives through a domino multicomponent Knoevenagel-condensation-cyclization reaction (5a-p) in an environmentally friendly manner. The resulting compounds were then tested for their anticancer activity against three types of human cancer cells (MCF-7, A549, and U87) using the MTT assay. The experiment showed that the nanocatalyst had excellent catalytic activity, and the synthesized compounds exhibited promising antiproliferative activity. Notably, compounds 5g and 5h, containing a 2-naphthyl ring, showed the highest antiproliferative effects against MCF-7 cells, with IC50 values of 0.03 and 0.32 μM, respectively. Additionally, the activity of compounds 5g and 5h in tubulin polymerization, apoptosis induction, and cell cycle arrest in MCF-7 cells were investigated. The results demonstrated that these compounds effectively induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. The binding of representative compounds to the colchicine binding site of tubulin was confirmed through molecular modeling studies.

Quinoxaline derivatives: Recent discoveries and development strategies towards anticancer agents

Cancer is a leading cause of death and a major health problem worldwide. While many effective anticancer agents are available, most drugs currently on the market are not specific, raising issues like the common side effects of chemotherapy. However, recent research hold promises for the development of more efficient and safer anticancer drugs. Quinoxaline and its derivatives are becoming recognized as a novel class of chemotherapeutic agents with activity against different tumors. The present review compiles and discusses studies concerning the therapeutic potential of the anticancer activity of quinoxaline derivatives, covering articles published between January 2018 and January 2023.

Discovery of novel urea derivatives as ferroptosis and autophagy inducer for human colon cancer treatment

A series of novel urea derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activities against HT-29 cells, and structure-activity relationships (SAR) were summarized. Compound 10p stood out from these derivatives, exhibiting the most potent antiproliferative activity. Further biological studies demonstrated that 10p arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase via regulating cell cycle-related proteins CDK1 and Cyclin B1. The underlying molecular mechanisms demonstrated that 10p induced cell death through ferroptosis and autophagy, but not apoptosis. Moreover, 10p-induced ferroptosis and autophagy were both related with accumulation of ROS, but they were independent of each other. Our findings substantiated that 10p combines ferroptosis induction and autophagy trigger in single molecule, making it a potential candidate for colon cancer treatment and is worth further development.

Recent Methods for the Synthesis of Quinoxaline Derivatives and their Biological Activities

Quinoxaline derivatives have been incorporated into numerous marketed drugs used for the treatment of various diseases. Examples include glecaprevir (Mavyret), voxilaprevir (Vosevi), Balversa (L01EX16) (erdafitinib), carbadox, XK469R (NSC698215), and becampanel (AMP397). These quinoxaline derivatives exhibit a diverse range of pharmacological activities, including antibacterial, antitubercular, antiviral, anti-HIV, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, anticancer, antiproliferative, antitumor, kinase inhibition, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and analgesic effects. Recognizing the significance of these bioactive quinoxaline derivatives, researchers have dedicated their efforts to developing various synthetic methods for their production. This review aimed to compile the most recent findings on the synthesis and biological properties of quinoxaline derivatives from 2015 to 2023.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of tetrahydroquinoxaline sulfonamide derivatives as colchicine binding site inhibitors

Colchicine binding site inhibitors (CBSIs) are potential microtubule targeting agents (MTAs), which can overcome multidrug resistance, improve aqueous solubility and reduce toxicity faced by most MTAs. Novel tetrahydroquinoxaline sulfonamide derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferative activities. The MTT assay results demonstrated that some derivatives exhibited moderate to strong inhibitory activities against HT-29 cell line. Among them, compound I-7 was the most active compound. Moreover, I-7 inhibited tubulin polymerization, disturbed microtubule network, disrupted the formation of mitotic spindle and arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase. However, I-7 didn't induce cell apoptosis. Furthermore, the prediction of ADME demonstrated that I-7 showed favorable physiochemical and pharmacokinetic properties. And the detailed molecular docking confirmed I-7 targeted the site of colchicine through hydrogen and hydrophobic interactions.

An update on the recent advances and discovery of novel tubulin colchicine binding inhibitors

Microtubules, formed by α- and β-tubulin heterodimer, are considered as a major target to prevent the proliferation of tumor cells. Microtubule-targeted agents have become increasingly effective anticancer drugs. However, due to the relatively sophisticated chemical structure of taxane and vinblastine, their application has faced numerous obstacles. Conversely, the structure of colchicine binding site inhibitors (CBSIs) is much easier to be modified. Moreover, CBSIs have strong antiproliferative effect on multidrug-resistant tumor cells and have become the mainstream research orientation of microtubule-targeted agents. This review focuses mainly on the recent advances of CBSIs during 2017-2022, attempts to depict their biological activities to analyze the structure-activity relationships and offers new perspectives for designing next generation of novel CBSIs.