Design, Synthesis, In Vitro, and In Silico Studies of New N5-Substituted-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidinone Derivatives as Anticancer CDK2 Inhibitors.

CDK2 is a key player in cell cycle processes. It has a crucial role in the progression of various cancers. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) are two common cancers that affect humans worldwide. The available therapeutic options suffer from many drawbacks including high toxicity and decreased specificity. Therefore, there is a need for more effective and safer therapeutic agents. A series of new pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine analogs was designed, synthesized, and evaluated as anticancer agents against the CRC and HCC cells, HCT116, and HepG2, respectively. Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidinone derivatives bearing N5-2-(4-halophenyl) acetamide substituents were identified as the most potent amongst evaluated compounds. Further evaluation of CDK2 kinase inhibition of two potential cytotoxic compounds 4a and 4b confirmed their CDK2 inhibitory activity. Compound 4a was more potent than the reference roscovitine regarding the CDK2 inhibitory activity (IC50 values: 0.21 and 0.25 µM, respectively). In silico molecular docking provided insights into the molecular interactions of compounds 4a and 4b with important amino acids within the ATP-binding site of CDK2 (Ile10, Leu83, and Leu134). Overall, compounds 4a and 4b were identified as interesting CDK2 inhibitors eliciting antiproliferative activity against the CRC and HCC cells, HCT116 and HepG2, respectively, for future further investigations and development.

Repurposing Synthetic Congeners of a Natural Product Aurone Unveils a Lead Antitumor Agent Inhibiting Folded P-Loop Conformation of MET Receptor Tyrosine Kinase.

A library of 24 congeners of the natural product sulfuretin were evaluated against nine panels representing nine cancer diseases. While sulfuretin elicited very weak activities at 10 µM concentration, congener 1t was identified as a potential compound triggering growth inhibition of diverse cell lines. Mechanistic studies in HCT116 colon cancer cells revealed that congener 1t dose-dependently increased levels of cleaved-caspases 8 and 9 and cleaved-PARP, while it concentration-dependently decreased levels of CDK4, CDK6, Cdc25A, and Cyclin D and E resulting in induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in colon cancer HCT116 cells. Mechanistic study also presented MET receptor tyrosine kinase as the molecular target mediating the anticancer activity of compound 1t in HCT116 cells. In silico study predicted folded p-loop conformation as the form of MET receptor tyrosine kinase responsible for binding of compound 1t. Together, the current study presents compound 1t as an interesting anticancer lead for further development.

Bestatin analogs-4-quinolinone hybrids as antileishmanial hits: Design, repurposing rational, synthesis, in vitro and in silico studies.

Amongst different forms of leishmaniasis, visceral leishmaniasis caused by L. donovani is highly mortal. Identification of new hit compounds might afford new starting points to develop novel therapeutics. In this lieu, a rationally designed small library of bestatin analogs-4-quinolone hybrids were prepared and evaluated. Analysis of SAR unveiled distinct profiles for hybrids type 1 and type 2, which might arise from their different molecular targets. Amongst type 1 bestatin analog-4-quinolone hybrids, hybrid 1e was identified as potential hit inhibiting growth of L. donovani promastigotes by 91 and 53% at 50 and 25 µM concentrations, respectively. Meanwhile, hybrid 2j was identified amongst type 2 bestatin analog-4-quinolone hybrids as potential hit compound inhibiting growth of L. donovani promastigotes by 50 and 38% at 50 and 25 µM concentrations, respectively. Preliminary safety evaluation of the promising hit compounds showed that they are 50-100 folds safer against human derived monocytic THP-1 cells relative to the drug erufosine. In silico study was conducted to predict the possible binding of hybrid 1e with methionine aminopeptidases 1 and 2 of L. donovani. Molecular dynamic simulations verified the predicted binding modes and provide more in depth understanding of the impact of hybrid 1e on LdMetAP-1 and LdMetAP-2.

Rational Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Pyrazoline-Based Antiproliferative Agents in MCF-7 Cancer Cells.

Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast divide continuously without control. There are great limitations in cancer chemotherapy. Hence, it is essential to search for new cancer therapeutics. Herein, a novel series of EGFR/HER2 dual inhibitors has been designed based on the hybridization of thiazole and pyrazoline fragments. The synthesized compounds were screened for their anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and MCF-10 normal breast cell line. Interestingly, synthesized compounds 6e and 6k showed very potent antiproliferative activity towards MCF-7 with IC50 values of 7.21 and 8.02 µM, respectively. Furthermore, enzymatic assay was performed against EGFR and HER2 to prove the dual inhibitory action. Compounds 6e and 6k showed potent inhibitory activity for EGFR with IC50 of 0.009 and 0.051 µM, respectively, and for HER2 with IC50 of 0.013 and 0.027 µM, respectively. Additionally, compounds 6e and 6k significantly stimulated apoptotic breast cancer cell death. Compound 6e was further explored for its anticancer activity in vivo using a Xenograft model. Moreover, computational modeling studies, ADMET studies and toxicity prediction were performed to investigate their potential drug candidates.

Synthesis, cytostatic evaluation and structure activity relationships of novel bis-indolylmethanes and their corresponding tetrahydroindolocarbazoles.

BIMs (bis-indolylmethanes) (1a-n) were synthesized using glacial acetic acid as a protic acid for promotion of the condensation reaction of indoles with aldehydes in high yields (86-98 %). Corresponding tetrahydroindolo[2,3-b]carbazoles (2a-m) were synthesized via condensation of BIMs with aldehydes. Ten synthesized compounds have been submitted to the national cancer institute in the USA where all the submitted samples have been selected for one dose screening. As a result of the one dose screening of BIMs (1e,f,h,i,n) and of the indolocarbazoles (2e,f,h,i,j) the average highest cytostatic effects was recorded here for the BIM 1h and the indolocarbazole (2e) that showed the lowest mean values of "47.39%" and of "21.63%" respectively. Both compounds (1h and 2e) were further tested in five dose screening with the tested substance (1h) being significantly more sensitive for several cancers cell line as corresponding to their GI50 values. Furthermore, the basically substituted derivative 2e showed the highest antipoliferative activity in a nanomolar scale towards the three selected cancers cell lines Non small lung cell NCI-H460 with GI50 "616 nM", Ovarian Cancer cell line OVCAR-4 with GI50 "562 nM" and Breast Cancer cell line MCF7 with GI50 "930 nM".

Discovery of 4-anilino α-carbolines as novel Brk inhibitors.

Dysregulation of cell signalling processes caused by an enhanced activity of protein kinases mainly contributes to cancer progression. Protein kinase inhibitors have been established as promising drugs that inhibit such overactive protein kinases in cancer cells. The formation of metastases, which makes a therapy difficult, remains a great challenge for cancer treatment. Recently, breast tumor kinase (Brk) was discovered as novel and interesting target for a cancer therapy because Brk participates in both cell dysregulation and metastasis. We discovered 4-anilino substituted α-carboline compounds as a novel class of highly active Brk inhibitors. In the current work, structure-activity relationships are discussed including docking results obtained for 4-anilino α-carbolines. A first profiling of selective kinase inhibition and a proof of concept for the antiproliferative effects is demonstrated. These results qualify the compounds as a promising class of novel antitumor agents.

Multitargeted drug development: Discovery and profiling of dihydroxy substituted 1-aza-9-oxafluorenes as lead compounds targeting Alzheimer disease relevant kinases.

Alzheimer disease (AD) turned out to be a multifactorial process leading to neuronal decay. So far merely single target structures which attribute to the AD progression have been considered to develop specific drugs. However, such drug developments have been disappointing in clinical stages. Multitargeting of more than one target structure determines recent studies of developing novel lead compounds. Protein kinases have been identified to contribute to the neuronal decay with CDK1, GSK-3ß and CDK5/p25 being involved in a pathological tau protein hyperphosphorylation. We discovered novel lead structures of the dihydroxy-1-aza-9-oxafluorene type with nanomolar activities against CDK1, GSK-3ß and CDK5/p25. Structure-activity relationships (SAR) of the protein kinase inhibition are discussed within our first compound series. One nanomolar active compound profiled as selective protein kinase inhibitor. Bioanalysis of a harmless cellular toxicity and of the inhibition of tau protein phosphorylation qualifies the compound for further studies.