Novel Nicotinonitrile Derivatives Bearing Imino Moieties Enhance Apoptosis and Inhibit Tyrosine Kinase

Exploring the Antioxidant Potency of New Naphthalene-Based Chalcone Derivatives: Design, Synthesis, Antioxidant Evaluation, Docking Study, DFT Calculations

Naphthalene-based chalcone derivative was successfully synthesized through the condensation of 2,4-dichlorobenzaldehyde with 2-acetylnaphthalene. This chalcone, denoted as compound 1, demonstrated a versatile reactivity upon treatment with both nitrogen and carbon nucleophiles, and yielded diverse heterocyclic scaffolds such as pyrazoline, thiazole, pyrimidine, pyran, and pyridine derivatives. The pyrazoline aldehyde derivative 7 was further derivatized to produce the hydrazide-hydrazone 13, namely, (1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methylene)acetohydrazide, which was exploited to synthesize derivatives of 2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carbohydrazide 14, 2-(4-oxo-4,5-dihydrothiazol-2-yl)acetohydrazide 15, and 3-(4-nitrophenyl)acrylohydrazide 16. All the newly synthesized compounds were characterized by melting point, elemental analysis, as well as FT-IR, 1 H-NMR and mass spectroscopy. Furthermore, these heterocyclic derivatives were screened for their antioxidant capacities using the DPPH radical assay. The results showed that compounds 5 and 10 are the most potent antioxidants with IC50 values 178, 177(μM), respectively. comparable to that of ascorbic acid which has IC50 value 148. Meanwhile, compounds 2, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 exhibited moderate antioxidant activities with IC50 values ranged from 266 to 291(μM). Thus, these heterocycles could emerge as promising antioxidant drugs for the treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases. Finally, molecular docking was conducted to study the binding affinity for the most potent antioxidant compounds 5, 10, and ascorbic acid inside the active pocket of Human Peroxiredoxin 5 (1HD2). DFT calculations and global descriptors were calculated for the most potent compounds to correlate the relation between chemical structure and reactivity.

New N-(1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)furan-2-carboxamide derivatives as potential inhibitors of the VEGFR-2

The present study reports the synthesis and biological evaluation of a new series of novel N-(1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)furan-2-carboxamide derivatives. The reactions were executed under both conventional and microwave irradiation conditions. An enhancement in the synthetic yields and rates was observed when the reactions were carried out under the microwave compared with the classical conditions. The structures of the products were ascertained by different analytical and spectral analyses. The antiproliferative activities were evaluated against three human epithelial cell lines; breast (MCF-7), colon (HCT-116), and prostate (PC-3) using MTT assay technique and doxorubicin was utilized as a reference drug. Besides, molecular docking studies were also performed and the vascular endothelial growth factor recptor-2 (VEGFR-2) was identified as a potential molecular target. Compounds 6, 7, 11a, 11b, 12, 14, and 16 showed promising antiproliferative activity against the three cancer cell lines investigated. Compounds 2 and 15b had significant antiproliferative activities against only colon and breast cells but not against the prostate cells. All the active antiproliferative compounds were highly selective. All the active antiproliferative compounds were good inhibitors of the VEGFR-2 at 7.4-11.5 nM compared with Pazopanib. Compound 7 with the most favorable orientation to the VEGFR-2 from the docking studies, was also the best inhibitor of the receptor. The antiproliferative activity of these compounds is in partial caused by their ability to inhibit the VEGFR-2 and since other molecular targets were not examined, other possibilities cannot be ruled out.

Synthesis, Antiproliferative activity, and apoptotic profile of New Derivatives from the Meta Stable Benzoxazinone Scaffold

BACKGROUND

Cancer exerts a huge strain on the health system. The emerging resistance to the current chemotherapies demands the continuous development of new anticancer agents with lower cost, higher efficacy, and greater specificity.

OBJECTIVE

Development of selective small molecules targeted anticancer agents.

METHODS

The behavior of benzoxazinone 2 towards nitrogen nucleophiles such as hydrazine hydrate, formamide, ethanolamine, aromatic amines, and thiosemcarbazide was described. The behavior of the amino quinazolinone 3 towards carbon electrophiles and P2S5 was also investigated. The antiproliferative activity of 17 new benzoxazinone derivatives was examined against the growth of three human cancer cell lines; liver HepG2, breast MCF-7, and colon HCT-29, in addition to the normal human fibroblasts WI-38 and the selectivity index was calculated. The possible molecular pathways such as the cell cycle and apoptosis were investigated.

RESULTS

Derivatives 3, 7, 8, 10, 13, and 15 had a significant (less than 10 µM) antiproliferative activity against the three cancer cell lines investigated. Derivative 7 showed the best antiproliferative profile comparable to that of doxorubicin. The selectivity index for all the effective derivatives ranged from ~5-12 folds indicating high selectivity against the cancer cells. Derivative 15 caused ~ 7-fold and 8-fold inductions in the expression of p53 and caspase3, respectively. It also caused a ~ 60% reduction in the expression of both topoisomerase II (topoII) and cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (cdk1). Derivatives 3, 7, and 8 had a similar profile; ~ 6-8-fold increases in the expression of p53 and caspase3 but these compounds were devoid of any significant effect on the expression of topoII and cdk1. Derivatives 10 and 13 were also similar and resulted in a ~6-fold elevation in the expression of caspase3, and more than 60% downregulation in the expression of topoII. The results of the gene expression of topoII and caspase 3 were confirmed by the measurement of the topoII concentration and caspase3 activity in the HepG2 cells.

CONCLUSION

Six derivatives exerted their antiproliferative activity by arresting the cell cycle (decreasing cdk1), preventing the DNA duplication (downregulating topo II), and by inducing apoptosis (inducing p53 and caspase3). One common feature in all the six active derivatives is the presence of free amino group. These compounds have merit for further investigations.

Synthesis of new oxadiazol-phthalazinone derivatives with anti-proliferative activity; molecular docking, pro-apoptotic, and enzyme inhibition profile

Background and aim: The current study reports the synthesis and biological evaluation of two novel series of 4-(5-mercapto-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)phthalazin-1(2H)-one derivatives. Methods: The synthetic reactions were carried out under both conventional and ultrasonic irradiation conditions. The anti-proliferative activity of the newly synthesized compounds against two human epithelial cell lines; liver (HepG2) and breast (MCF-7) in addition to normal fibroblasts (WI-38) was investigated. In addition to molecular docking studies, the possible mechanism(s) of action were also explored. Results: In general, an improvement in synthetic rates and yields was observed when reactions were carried out under sonication compared with classical conditions. The structures of the products were established based on analytical and spectral data. Derivatives 2e and 7d, in addition to compound 1, had significant and selective anti-proliferative activity against liver and breast cancer cell lines without harming normal fibroblasts. These derivatives arrested the cell cycle progression and/or induced apoptosis. This has been manifested by the elevation in the expression of p53 and caspase 3, down-regulation of cdk1, and a reduction in the concentrations of MAPK and Topo II at submicromolar concentrations. The latter results confirmed the molecular docking study. Conclusions: Compound 1 had the best profile on the gene and protein levels (arresting cell cycle and inducing apoptosis). The ability of compounds 1 and 2e to inhibit both MAPK and Topo II nominates these derivatives as potential candidates for further anticancer and antitumor studies.