New imidazole-2-ones and their 2-thione analogues as anticancer agents and CAIX inhibitors: Synthesis, in silico ADME and molecular modeling studies

Synthesis and effect of 4-acetylphenylamine-based imidazole derivatives on migration and growth of 3D cultures of breast, prostate and brain cancer cells

In this study, we have synthesized novel 4-acetophenone moiety-bearing functionalized imidazole derivatives containing S-, and N-ethyl substituents and evaluated their anticancer activity. Their anticancer activity was studied against human breast carcinoma (MDA-MB-231), human prostate carcinoma (PPC-1), and human glioblastoma (U-87). Compounds 4, 9, 14, and 22 were identified as the most promising anticancer agents from a series of imidazole derivatives. They showed the highest cytotoxicity by MTT assay against MDA-MB-231, PPC-1 and U-87 cell lines. Compounds 14 and 22 were most selective against PPC-1 and U-87 cell lines, and their EC50 values against these cell lines ranged from 3.1 to 47.2 µM. Most tested compounds showed lower activity against the triple-negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell line. None of the imidazole derivatives possessed an inhibiting effect on the migration of PPC-1 and U-87 cells by 'wound' healing assay. In spheroid assay, the most promising were compounds 14 and 22, especially in PPC-1 3D cultures. They efficiently reduced both the size and the viability of PPC-1 spheroid cells.

Novel imidazolone derivatives as potential dual inhibitors of checkpoint kinases 1 and 2: Design, synthesis, cytotoxicity evaluation, and mechanistic insights

Applying various drug design strategies including ring variation, substituents variation, and ring fusion, two series of 2-(alkylthio)-5-(arylidene/heteroarylidene)imidazolones and imidazo[1,2-a]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines were designed and prepared as dual potential Chk1 and Chk2 inhibitors. The newly synthesized hybrids were screened in NCI 60 cell line panel where the most active derivatives 4b, d-f, and 6a were further estimated for their five dose antiproliferative activity against the most sensitive tumor cells including breast MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 and non-small cell lung cancer EKVX as well as normal WI-38 cell. Noticeably, increasing the carbon chain attached to thiol moiety at C-2 of imidazolone scaffold elevated the cytotoxic activity. Hence, compounds 4e and 4f, containing S-butyl fragment, exhibited the most antiproliferative activity against the tested cells where 4f showed extremely potent selectivity toward them. As well, compound 6a, containing imidazothienopyrimidine core, exerted significant cytotoxic activity and selectivity toward the examined cells. The mechanistic investigation of the most active cytotoxic analogs was achieved through the evaluation of their inhibitory activity against Chk1 and Chk2. Results revealed that 4f displayed potent dual inhibition of both Chk1 and Chk2 with IC50 equal 0.137 and 0.25 μM, respectively. It also promoted its antiproliferative and Chk suppression activity via EKVX cell cycle arrest at S phase through stimulating the apoptotic approach. The apoptosis induction was also emphasized by elevating the expression of Caspase-3 and Bax, that are accompanied by Bcl-2 diminution. The in silico molecular docking and ADMET profiles of the most active analogs have been carried out to evaluate their potential as significant anticancer drug candidates.

In-silico design of novel potential HDAC inhibitors from indazole derivatives targeting breast cancer through QSAR, molecular docking and pharmacokinetics studies

Latest studies confirmed that abnormal function of histone deacetylase (HDAC) plays a pivotal role in formation of tumors and is a potential therapeutic target for treating breast cancer. In this research, in-silico drug discovery approaches via quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) and molecular docking simulations were adapted to 43 compounds of indazole derivatives with HDAC inhibition for anticancer activity against breast cancer. The QSAR models were built from multiple linear regression (MLR), and models predictability was cross-validated by leave-one-out (LOO) method. Based on these results, compounds C32, C26 and C31 from model 3 showed superior inhibitory activity with pIC50 of 9.30103, 9.1549 and 9.1549. We designed 10 novel compounds with molecular docking scores ranging from -7.9 to -9.3 kcal/mol. The molecular docking simulation results reveal that amino acid residues ILE1122 and PRO1123 play a significant role in bonding with 6CE6 protein. Furthermore, newly designed compounds P5, P2 and P7 with high docking scores of -9.3 kcal/mol, -8.9 kcal/mol and -8.8 kcal/mol than FDA-approved drug Raloxifene (-8.5 kcal/mol) and aid in establishment of potential drug candidate for HDAC inhibitors. The in-silico ADME functionality is used in the final phase to evaluate newly designed inhibitors as potential drug candidates. The results suggest that newly designed compounds P5, P2 and P7 can be used as a potential anti-breast cancer drug candidate.