QSAR, molecular docking, design, and pharmacokinetic analysis of 2-(4-fluorophenyl) imidazol-5-ones as anti-breast cancer drug compounds against MCF-7 cell line

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Newly Synthesized Cinnamide-Fluorinated Containing Compounds as Bioactive Anticancer Agents

A new series of cinnamide-fluorinated derivatives has been synthesized and characterized by using different spectroscopic and elemental microanalyses methods. All of the prepared p-fluorocinnamide derivatives were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against the HepG2 liver cancerous cell line. The imidazolone derivative 6, which bears N-(N-pyrimidin-2-ylbenzenesulphamoyl) moiety, displayed antiproliferative activity against HepG2 liver cancerous cells with an IC50 value of 4.23 μM as compared to staurosporin (STU) (IC50 = 5.59 μM). In addition, compound 6 experienced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitory activity comparable to palatinib. The cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry indicated that compound 6 arrested the cellular cycle of HepG2 cells at the G1 phase. Additionally, as demonstrated by the fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) technique, compound 6 increased both early and late apoptotic ratios compared to control untreated HepG2 cells. Moreover, imidazolone compound 6 induced apoptosis via the intrinsic apoptotic pathway by decreasing the level of mitochondrial membrane polarization (MMP) compared to untreated HepG2 cells. Therefore, the new N-(N-pyrimidin-2-ylbenzenesulphamoyl)imidazolone derivative 6 could be considered a potential platform for further optimizing an antitumor agent against hepatocellular carcinoma.

Activity prediction, structure-based drug design, molecular docking, and pharmacokinetic studies of 1,4-dihydropyridines derivatives as α-amylase inhibitors

Objectives

Diabetes places a substantial economic burden on countries worldwide. The costs associated with diabetes management, including healthcare services, medications, monitoring equipment, and productivity losses, are substantial. The International Diabetes Federation has estimated that global healthcare expenditures associated with diabetes and its complications exceed hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Therefore, a critical need exists to develop drugs that are highly effective, affordable, and easily accessible to society.

Methods

This study explored the structural modification of 1,4-DHP derivatives to identify specific α-amylase inhibitors, with the aim of developing more effective and accessible drugs for diabetes. We evaluated the activity and binding ability of the designed compounds. In addition, we performed drug-likeness and pharmacokinetic studies on the modified compounds.

Results

Equation (1) had the highest accuracy, on the basis of internal and external assessment parameters, including R2int = 0.852, R2adj = 0.803, Q2cv = 0.731, and R2ext = 0.884. Moreover, the five potent analogs identified through structure-based drug design demonstrated a more favorable interaction than observed for the template or acarbose. Additionally, comprehensive studies on the drug-like properties and pharmacokinetics of the designed compounds supported their oral safety and favorable pharmacokinetic profiles.

Conclusions

The designed analogs show promise for developing new hypoglycemic agents. Their positive attributes and performance suggest that they may potentially serve as candidates for further research in improving treatments for high blood sugar-associated conditions.

Hepatotoxicity assessment investigations on PFASs targeting L-FABP using binding affinity data and machine learning-based QSAR model

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent organic pollutants that have been detected in various environmental media and human serum, but their safety assessment remains challenging. PFASs may accumulate in liver tissues and cause hepatotoxicity by binding to liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP). Therefore, evaluating the binding affinity of PFASs to L-FABP is crucial in assessing the potential hepatotoxic effects. In this study, two binding sites of L-FABP were evaluated, results suggested that the outer site possessed high affinity to polyfluoroalkyl sulfates and the inner site preferred perfluoroalkyl sulfonamides, overall, the inner site of L-FABP was more sensitive to PFASs. The binding affinity data of PFASs to L-FABP were used as training set to develop a machine learning model-based quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) for efficient prediction of potentially hazardous PFASs. Further Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) model disclosed flexibility as the determinant molecular property on PFASs-induced hepatotoxicity. It can influence affinity of PFASs to target protein through affecting binding conformations directly (individual effect) as well as integrating with other molecular properties (joint effect). Our present work provided more understanding on hepatotoxicity of PFASs, which could be significative in hepatotoxicity gradation, administration guidance, and safer alternatives development of PFASs.