Design, synthesis and evaluation of acridine derivatives as multi-target Src and MEK kinase inhibitors for anti-tumor treatment.

Clinical studies have shown enhanced anticancer effects of combined inhibition of Src and MEK kinases. Development of multi-target drugs against Src and MEK is of potential therapeutic advantage against cancers. As a follow-up of our previous studies, and by using molecular docking method, we designed and synthesized a new series of 9-anilinoacridines containing phenyl-urea moieties as potential novel dual Src and MEK inhibitors. The anti-proliferative assays against K562 and HepG-2 tumor cells showed that most of the derivatives displayed good cytotoxicity in vitro. In particular, kinase inhibition assays showed that compound 8m inhibited Src (59.67%) and MEK (43.23%) at 10 µM, and displayed moderate inhibitory activity against ERK and AKT, the downstream effectors of both Src and MEK. Moreover, compound 8m was found to induce K562 cells apoptosis. Structure-activity relationships of these derivatives were analyzed. Our study suggested that acridine scaffold, particularly compound 8m, is of potential interest for developing novel multi-target Src and MEK kinase inhibitors.

Design, synthesis and evaluation of azaacridine derivatives as dual-target EGFR and Src kinase inhibitors for antitumor treatment.

Overexpression of EGFR is often associated with advanced stage disease and poor prognosis. In certain cancers, Src works synergistically with EGFR to promote proliferation, survival, invasion and metastasis. Development of dual-target drugs against EGFR and Src is of therapeutic advantage against these cancers. Based on molecular docking and our previous studies, we rationally designed a new series of azaacridine derivatives as potent EGFR and Src dual inhibitors. Most of the synthesized azaacridines displayed good antiproliferative activity against K562 and A549 cells. The representative compound 13b showed nM IC50 values against K562 and A549 cells, and inhibited EGFR at inhibition rate of 33.53% at 10 µM and Src at inhibition rate of 72.12% at 1 µM. Furthermore, compound 13b could inhibit the expression of EGFR, p-EGFR, Src and p-Src. Moreover, 13b efficiently inhibited the invasion of tumor cells and induced cancer cells apoptosis. Our study suggested that azaacridine scaffold can be developed as novel multi-target kinase inhibitors for cancer therapy.