Nanoparticles of a Pyrazolo-Pyridazine Derivative as Potential EGFR and CDK-2 Inhibitors: Design, Structure Determination, Anticancer Evaluation and In Silico Studies.

The strategic planning of this study is based upon using the nanoformulation method to prepare nanoparticles 4-SLNs and 4-LPHNPs of the previously prepared 4,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-c]pyridazin-3-amine (4) after confirming its structure with single crystal X-ray analysis. These nanoparticles exhibited promising cytotoxic activity against HepG-2, HCT-116 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines in comparison with the reference doxorubicin and the original derivative 4. Moreover, their inhibitory assessment against EGFR and CDK-2/cyclin A2 displayed improved and more favorable impact than the parent 4 and the references. Detection of their influence upon cancer biomarkers revealed upregulation of Bax, p53 and caspase-3 levels and downregulation of Bcl-2 levels. The docking simulation demonstrated that the presence of the pyrazolo[3,4-c]pyridazin-3-amine scaffold is amenable to enclosure and binding well within EGFR and CDK-2 receptors through different hydrophilic interactions. The pharmacokinetic and physicochemical properties of target 4 were also assessed with ADME investigation, and the outcome indicated good drug-like characteristics.

Antiproliferative Activity of Some Newly Synthesized Substituted Nicotinamides Candidates Using Pyridine-2(1H) thione Derivatives as Synthon.

Some new pyridinethione and thienopyridine derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated for their antiproliferative activity using the MTT assay. Nicotinamide derivatives 3 have been synthesized and used for the preparation of new condensed thieno [2,3-b]pyridines by their reactions with active halo compounds. Finally the synthesized thienopyridine underwent ring closure whenever possible through boiling in a solution of sodium ethoxide. The antiproliferative evaluation against (HCT-116, HepG-2, and MCF-7) human cancer cells and one human healthy cell line (BJ-1) revealed that compounds 3b, 4c-5d, 7b-12a, 10d, and 13b have interesting antitumor activity specifically as antihepatocellular and anticolon cellular carcinoma agents. Besides, the docking results for most active derivatives were in agreement with the in vitro antitumor results.

New Benzimidazole-, 1,2,4-Triazole-, and 1,3,5-Triazine-Based Derivatives as Potential EGFRWT and EGFRT790M Inhibitors: Microwave-Assisted Synthesis, Anticancer Evaluation, and Molecular Docking Study.

A new series of benzimidazole, 1,2,4-triazole, and 1,3,5-triazine derivatives were designed and synthesized using a microwave irradiation synthetic approach utilizing 2-phenylacetyl isothiocyanate (1) as a key starting material. All the new analogues were evaluated as anticancer agents against a panel of cancer cell lines utilizing doxorubicin as a standard drug. Most of the tested derivatives exhibited selective cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and A-549 cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the new target compounds 5, 6, and 7 as the most potent antiproliferative agents have been assessed as in vitro EGFRWT and EGFRT790M inhibitors compared to the reference drugs erlotinib and AZD9291. They represented more potent suppression activity against the mutated EGFRT790M than the wild-type EGFRWT. Moreover, the compounds 5, 6, and 7 down-regulated the oncogenic parameter p53 ubiquitination. A docking simulation of compound 6b was carried out to correlate its molecular structure with its significant EGFR inhibition potency and its possible binding interactions within the active site of EGFRWT and the mutant EGFRT790M.

Antiproliferative Activity of Some Newly Synthesized Substituted Pyridine Candidates Using 4-(Aaryl)-6-(naphthalen-1-yl)-2-oxo-1,2-dihydropyridine-3-carbonitrile as Synthon.

Herein, we used nicotinonitrile derivatives 4a,b as scaffolds to build novel and active antineoplastic agents. The reaction of nicotinonitrile derivatives 4a,b with POCl3/PCl5 and/or hydrazine hydrate afforded 2-chloropyridones 6a,b and 2-hydrazinyl nicotinonitrile derivatives 11a,b, respectively, as building blocks for various heterocyclic compounds. The structures of all of the synthesized heterocycles were elucidated from their spectral and elemental analyses. The cytotoxic activities of the prepared derivatives were evaluated against different cancer cell lines. Results revealed potential cytotoxic effects of the synthesized compounds against evaluated cell lines, where NCIH 460 and RKOP 27 cell lines were the most affected by the prepared compounds. Derivative 14a was the most effective against all tested cell lines in terms of the obtained IC50 values (25 ± 2.6, 16 ± 2, 127 ± 25, 422 ± 26, and 255 ± 2 nM against NCIH 460, RKOP 27, HeLa, U937, and SKMEL 28 cells, respectively).

Synthesis, Antimicrobial Activity and Molecular Docking of Novel Thiourea Derivatives Tagged with Thiadiazole, Imidazole and Triazine Moieties as Potential DNA Gyrase and Topoisomerase IV Inhibitors.

To develop new antimicrobial agents, a series of novel thiourea derivatives incorporated with different moieties 2-13 was designed and synthesized and their biological activities were evaluated. Compounds 7a, 7b and 8 exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against all Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and the fungal Aspergillus flavus with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from 0.95 ± 0.22 to 3.25 ± 1.00 µg/mL. Furthermore, cytotoxicity studies against MCF-7 cells revealed that compounds 7a and 7b were the most potent with IC50 values of 10.17 ± 0.65 and 11.59 ± 0.59 µM, respectively. On the other hand, the tested compounds were less toxic against normal kidney epithelial cell lines (Vero cells). The in vitro enzyme inhibition assay of 8 displayed excellent inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli DNA B gyrase and moderate one against E. coli Topoisomerase IV (IC50 = 0.33 ± 1.25 and 19.72 ± 1.00 µM, respectively) in comparison with novobiocin (IC50 values 0.28 ± 1.45 and 10.65 ± 1.02 µM, respectively). Finally, the molecular docking was done to position compound 8 into the E. coli DNA B and Topoisomerase IV active pockets to explore the probable binding conformation. In summary, compound 8 may serve as a potential dual E. coli DNA B and Topoisomerase IV inhibitor.

Chiral Pyridine-3,5-bis- (L-phenylalaninyl-L-leucinyl) Schiff Base Peptides as Potential Anticancer Agents: Design, Synthesis, and Molecular Docking Studies Targeting Lactate Dehydrogenase-A.

A series of branched tetrapeptide Schiff bases 3-6 were designed and synthesized from corresponding tetrapeptide hydrazide 2 as a starting material.In vitroevaluation of the synthesized compounds 4-6 against breast MCF-7 carcinoma cells identified their excellent anticancer potency, with IC50 ranging from 8.12 ± 0.14 to 17.55 ± 0.27 µM in comparison with the references, cisplatin and milaplatin (IC50= 13.34 ± 0.11and 18.43 ± 0.13 µM, respectively). Furthermore, all derivatives demonstrated promising activity upon evaluation of theirin vitroandin vivosuppression of p53 ubiquitination and inhibition assessment for LDHA kinase. Finally, molecular docking studies were performed to predict the possible binding features of the potent derivatives within the ATP pocket of LDHA in an attempt to get a lead for developing a more potent LDHA inhibitor with anti-proliferative potency.

Anticancer Activities of Newly Synthesized Chiral Macrocyclic Heptapeptide Candidates.

As important cancer therapeutic agents, macrocyclic peptides have recently drawn great attention, mainly because they are synthetically accessible and have lower toxicity towards normal cells. In the present work, we synthesized newly macrocyclic pyridoheptapeptide derivatives. The synthesized derivatives were characterized using standard chemical and spectroscopic analytical techniques, and their anticancer activities against human breast and hepatocellular cancer cells were investigated. Results showed that compounds 1a and 1b were the most effective against hepatocellular (HepG2) and breast (MCF-7) cancer cell lines, respectively.

Synthesis and Characterization of Macrocyclic Chiral Tröger's Base Phenhomazine Candidates as Anticancer Agent.

1,4,7,10-Tetraoxa[10](2,8)trögerophane 5 was synthesized from its corresponding precursors. Heating of 2 with p-nitrophenoxide afforded bis(p-nitrophenyl)ether 3, which was treated with hydrazine hydrate to give bis(p-aminophenyl)ether 4. Treatment of 4 with paraformaldehyde and triflouroacetic anhydride gave trögerophane 5. Reaction of 5 with trifluroacetic anhydride afforded phenhomazine derivative 6, which was treated with potassium carbonate to afford tetrahydrophenhomazine 7. Finally, reaction of 7 with phenacylchloride, bromoacetic acid, or ethyl bromoacetate in the presence of triethyl amine under reflux, afforded the corresponding macrocyclic compounds 8, 9 and 10, respectively. The synthesized trögerophane,precursors and its newly synthesized phenhomazines derivatives were screened for anticancer activity. Results revealed that 1,4,7,10-tetraoxa[10](2,8)trögerophane had a promising selectivity towards colon cancer cell line with an IC50 of 92.7 µg/ml.

Synthesis and Characterization of New Dihydronaphthalene Candidates as Potent Cytotoxic Agents against MCF-7 Human Cancer Cells.

In the present work, a new series of dihydronaphthalene derivatives were synthesized starting with 6-methoxy-1-tetralone 1, and the corresponding hydrazine derivative 2. Reaction of compound 2 with aryl isothiocyanates produced thiosemicarbazides 3a-d, which were reacted with ethyl chloroacetate to give thiazolidinone derivatives 4a-d. Pyrano thiazolecarbonitrile derivatives 5a-f were prepared by heating a mixture of compounds 4a or 4c, aryl aldehydes, and malononitrile utilizing distilled water in the presence of catalytic amount of potassium hydrogen phthalate. Also, treatment of 4a with DMF-DMA under solvent-free conditions gave enaminone derivative 6, which condensed with ethyl acetoacetate or acetylacetone or malononitrile or cyanothioacetamide to give compounds 7-10, respectively. Finally, reaction of the enaminone 6 with 2-aminoimidazol or 2-aminothiazol in the presence of glacial acetic acid produced derivatives 11 and 12, respectively. Cytotoxic evaluation of eleven compounds, against MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma) cell lines, was estimated. Results revealed that five of the examined compounds 5a, 5d, 5e, 10, and 3d showed potent cytotoxic activities recording, IC50 values; 0.93 ± 0.02, 1.76 ± 0.04, 2.36 ± 0.06, 2.83 ± 0.07, and 3.73 ± 0.09 µM, respectively, which were more potent than the reference used (Saturosporin, IC506.08 ± 0.15 µM). The new products were also examined towards normal epithelial breast cells (MCF10A). All of them showed very good safety profile with different degrees and were safer than the reference drug used. Compound 5a was the most effective against MCF-7 cells and was less toxic than Saturosporin by about 18.45-folds towards MCF01A normal cells. All the new compounds were fully characterized by the different spectral and analytical tools. Herein, detailed syntheses, spectroscopic, and biological data are reported.

Synthesis, Antiproliferative, and Antioxidant Evaluation of 2-Pentylquinazolin-4(3H)-one(thione) Derivatives with DFT Study.

The current study was chiefly designed to examine the antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of some novel quinazolinone(thione) derivatives 6-14. The present work focused on two main points; firstly, comparing between quinazolinone and quinazolinthione derivatives. Whereas, antiproliferative (against two cell lines namely, HepG2 and MCF-7) and antioxidant (by two methods; ABTS and DPPH) activities of the investigated compounds, the best quinazolinthione derivatives were 6 and 14, which exhibited excellent potencies comparable to quinazolinone derivatives 5 and 9, respectively. Secondly, we compared the activity of four series of Schiff bases which included the quinazolinone moiety (11a-d). In addition, the antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of the compounds with various aryl aldehyde hydrazone derivatives (11a-d) analogs were studied. The compounds exhibited potency that increased with increasing electron donating group in p-position (OH > OMe > Cl) due to extended conjugated systems. Noteworthy, most of antiproliferative and antioxidant activities results for the tested compounds are consistent with the DFT calculations.

A Comparative Study of the Anticancer Activity and PARP-1 Inhibiting Effect of Benzofuran-Pyrazole Scaffold and Its Nano-Sized Particles in Human Breast Cancer Cells.

Breast cancer is considered the most common and deadly cancer among women worldwide. Nanomedicine has become extremely attractive in the field of cancer treatment. Due to the high surface to volume ratio and other unique properties, nanomaterials can be specifically targeted to certain cells and tissues to interact with the living systems. The strategic planning of this study is based on using the nanoprecipitation method to prepare nanoparticles BZP-NPs (3.8-5.7 nm) of the previously prepared benzofuran-pyrazole compound (IV) BZP which showed promising cytotoxic activity. The capacity of BZP and BZP-NPs to suppress the growth of human breast tumor MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells was evaluated using MTT assay. The IC50 doses of BZP and BZP-NPs targeting normal breast cells MCF-12A exceeded those targeting the cancer cells by >1000-fold, demonstrating their reasonable safety profiles in normal cells. Furthermore, cell cycle analysis, apoptosis induction detection, assessment of p53, Bcl-2, caspase-3, and PARP-1 levels of BZP and its nano-sized-BZP-NPs particles were also evaluated. Although the obtained results were in the favor of compound IV in its normal-sized particles, BZP-NPs appeared as a hit compound which showed improved cytotoxicity against the tested human breast cancer cells associated with the induction of pre-G1 apoptosis as well as cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase. The increase in caspase-3 level, upregulation of p53, and downregulation of Bcl-2 protein expression levels confirmed apoptosis. Furthermore, ELISA results exhibited that BZP-NPs produced a more favorable impact as a PARP-1 enzyme inhibitor than the parent BZP.

Novel phthalimide based analogues: design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking studies.

Pyrazolylphthalimide derivative 4 was synthesized and reacted with different reagents to afford the target compounds imidazopyrazoles 5-7, pyrazolopyrimidines 9, 12, 14 and pyrazolotriazines 16, 17 containing phthalimide moiety. The prepared compounds were established by different spectral data and elemental analyses. Additionally, all synthesized derivatives were screened for their antibacterial activity against four types of Gram + ve and Gram-ve strains, and for antifungal activity against two fungi micro-organisms by well diffusion method. Moreover, the antiproliferative activity was tested for all compounds against human liver (HepG-2) cell line in comparison with the reference vinblastine. Moreover, drug-likeness and toxicity risk parameters of the newly synthesized compounds were calculated using in silico studies. The data from structure-actvity relationship (SAR) analysis suggested that phthalimide derivative bearing 3-aminopyrazolone moiety, 4 illustrated the best antimicrobial and antitumor activities and might be considered as a lead for further optimization. To investigate the mechanism of the antimicrobial and anticancer activities, enzymatic assay and molecular docking studies were carried out on E. coli topoisomerase II DNA gyrase B and VEGFR-2 enzymes.

In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Breast Cancer Activities of Some Newly Synthesized 5-(thiophen-2-yl)thieno-[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-one Candidates.

In this study, some of new thiophenyl thienopyrimidinone derivatives 2-15 were prepared and tested as anti-cancer agents by using thiophenyl thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidinone derivative 2 as a starting material, which was prepared from cyclization of ethyl ester derivative 1 with formamide. Treatment of 2 with ethyl- chloroacetate gave thienopyrimidinone N-ethylacetate 3, which was reacted with hydrazine hydrate or anthranilic acid to afford acetohydrazide 4 and benzo[d][1,3]oxazin-4-one 5, respectively. Condensation of 4 with aromatic aldehydes or phenylisothiocyanate yielded Schiff base derivatives 6,7, and thiosemicarbazise 10, which were treated with 2-mercaptoacetic acid or chloroacetic acid to give the corresponding thiazolidinones 8, 9, and phenylimino-thiazolidinone 11, respectively. Treatment of 4 with ethylacetoacetate or acetic acid/acetic anhydride gave pyrazole 12 and acetyl acetohydrazide 13 derivatives, respectively. The latter compound 13 was reacted with ethyl cycno-acetate or malononitrile to give 14 and 15, respectively. In this work, we have studied the anti-cancer activity of the synthesized thienopyrimidinone derivatives against MCF-7 and MCF-10A cancer cells. Furthermore, in vivo experiments showed that the synthesized compounds significantly reduced tumor growth up to the 8th day of treatment in comparison to control animal models. Additionally, the synthesized derivatives showed potential inhibitory effects against pim-1 kinase activities.

Potent Anti-Ovarian Cancer with Inhibitor Activities on both Topoisomerase II and V600EBRAF of Synthesized Substituted Estrone Candidates.

A series of 16-(α-alkoxyalkane)-17-hydrazino-estra-1(10),2,4-trien[17,16-c]-3-ol (3a-l) and estra-1(10),2,4-trien-[17,16-c]pyrazoline-3-ol derivatives (4a-d) were synthesized from corresponding arylidines 2a,b which was prepared from estrone 1 as starting material. Condensation of 1 with aldehydes gave the corresponding arylidine derivatives 2a,b which were treated with hydrazine derivatives in alcohols to give the corresponding derivatives 3a-l, respectively. Additionally, treatment of 2a,b with methyl- or phenylhydrazine in ethanolic potassium hydroxide afforded the corresponding N-substituted pyrazoline derivatives 4a-d, respectively. All these derivatives showed potent anti-ovarian cancer both in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism of anti-ovarian cancer was suggested to process via topoisomerase II and V600EBRAF inhibition.

Synthesis and Molecular Docking of New Thiophene Derivatives as Lactate Dehydrogenase-A Inhibitors.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: A series of novel derivatives possessing the thiophene moiety were synthesized using ethyl 5'-amino-2,3'-bithiophene-4'-carboxylate as the starting material. METHODS: The new synthesized derivatives were screened as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) inhibitors. LDH plays an important role in glucose metabolism in cancer cells and can affect tumor genesis and metastasis. RESULTS: 3-Substituted p-tolylthieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-ones 4 were the most potent inhibitors in this study compared to Galloflavin reference drug. CONCLUSION: Molecular docking studies on the Human Lactate Dehydrogenase active site were carried out on the synthesized compounds and the MolDock scores ranged between -127 to -171.

Design, Synthesis, Anticancer Evaluation and Molecular Modeling of Novel Estrogen Derivatives.

A series of estrone derivatives 3⁻8 was designed and synthesized using estrone arylmethylenes 2a,b as starting materials and their structures were confirmed by different spectral data and elemental analyses. All the newly synthesized compounds exhibited potent in vitro and in vivo cytotoxic activities against breast cancer cell lines. In addition, all compounds were subjected to in vitro and in vivo inhibition assays for EGFR and VEGFR-2 kinases as well as p53 ubiquitination activity to obtain more details about their mechanism of action. Based on the promising results, a molecular docking study was investigated for the most representative compound 5a against the two targets, EGFR and VEGFR-2 kinases, to assess its binding affinity, hoping to rationalize and obtain potent anticancer agents in the future.

Design, Synthesis and Docking Studies of Novel Macrocyclic Pentapeptides as Anticancer Multi-Targeted Kinase Inhibitors.

A series of macrocyclic pyrido-pentapeptide candidates 2⁻6 were synthesized by using N,N-bis-[1-carboxy-2-(benzyl)]-2,6-(diaminocarbonyl)pyridine 1a,b as starting material. Structures of the newly synthesized compounds were established by IR, ¹H and 13C-NMR, and MS spectral data and elemental analysis. The in-vitro cytotoxicity activity was investigated for all compounds against MCF-7 and HepG-2 cell lines and the majority of the compounds showed potent anticancer activity against the tested cell lines in comparison with the reference drugs. Out of the macrocyclic pyrido-pentapeptide based compounds, 5c showed encouraging inhibitory activity on MCF-7 and HepG-2 cell lines with IC50 values 9.41 ± 1.25 and 7.53 ± 1.33 µM, respectively. Interestingly, 5c also demonstrated multitarget profile and excellent inhibitory activity towards VEGFR-2, CDK-2 and PDGFRß kinases. Furthermore, molecular modeling studies of the compound 5c revealed its possible binding modes into the active sites of those kinases.

In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Breast Cancer Activities of Some Synthesized Pyrazolinyl-estran-17-one Candidates.

A series of estrone derivatives, 2⁻4, were synthesized from the corresponding arylidine estrone, 2a,b, as starting materials, which were prepared by condensation of estrone (3-hydroxy-estran-17-one, 1) with 4-bromobenzaldehyde and thiophene-2-aldehyde. Treating of 2a,b with hydrazine derivatives in acetic acid or propionic acid afforded pyrazoline derivatives, 3a⁻f and 4a⁻f, respectively. Furthermore, results proved the superiority of thienyl derivatives over 4-bromophenol derivatives in terms of cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 cancer cells. In vivo xenograft breast cancer animal model experiments revealed that the synthesized derivatives can be used for decreasing tumor volume, while the most potent derivative (4f) decreased the development of tumor volume by about 87.0% after 12 days.

Synthesis, Anticancer Screening and Molecular Docking Studies of New Heterocycles with Trimethoxyphenyl Scaffold as Combretastatin Analogues.

BACKGROUND: In this study, synthesis, molecular docking and anticancer screening of new series of substituted heterocycles with trimethoxy phenyl scaffold as Combretastatin analogues were described. Substituted pyridines were synthesized via the reaction of (E)-3-(dimethylamino)-1-(3,4,5- trimethoxyphenyl)prop-2-en-1-one (2) with active methylene reagents. Substituted pyrimidines were prepared by the reaction of the enaminone (2) with heterocyclic amines and 6-amino thiouracil. Furthermore, a series of pyrazoles substituted with trimethoxyphenyl scaffold were prepared by the reaction of the enaminone 2, with selected examples of hydrazonoyl halides. CONCLUSION: The cytotoxic effect of the newly compounds was evaluated against HePG-2, HCT-116, MCF-7 and PC3 cancer cell lines. Among the new products, compounds 2, 3, 7 and 10 were found to exhibit promising results as anticancer agents. The IC50 values of 2, 3 and 7 were 54.6, 77.4 and 47.4 on PC3 respectively. Also, compound 2 had IC50 28.06 on MCF7. Moreover, the selectivity index indicated that compounds 2 and 3 are safe.

Synthesis of androstanopyridine and pyrimidine compounds as novel activators of the tumor suppressor protein p53.

A series of androstane derivatives 2-16 were synthesized from 3ß-hydroxyandrostan-17-one derivatives (1a-e). Compounds (1a,b) were treated with ethyl cyanoacetate, cyanoacetamide, or malononitrile and gave the corresponding derivatives 2-7, respectively. Additionally, compounds (1a-e) were condensed with cyanothioacetamide, urea, or guanidine hydrochloride afforded the corresponding derivatives 8-12, which then by Moffat oxidation gave the oxidized derivatives 9, 11 and 13, respectively. Finally, compound (1) condensed with acetyl acetone or ethyl acetoacetate gave cyclohexene derivatives (14a-c) and (15a,b), respectively. Compound 15 was oxidized with a Moffat oxidizing agent and afforded the corresponding oxidized compound 16. The newly synthesized compounds activated the tumor suppressor p53 in cancer cells through inhibition of the p53-specific ubiquitin E3 ligase HDM2.