Zegheb N, Boubekri C, Lanez T, Lanez E, Küçükkılınç TT, Öz E, Khennoufa A, Khamouli S, Belaidi S. In Vitro and In Silico Determination of some N-ferrocenylmethylaniline Derivatives as Anti-Proliferative Agents against MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines.
Anticancer Agents Med Chem 2021;
22:1426-1437. [PMID:
34170810 DOI:
10.2174/1871520621666210624141712]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Revised: 04/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Since the binding of estradiol to its receptor promotes breast cancer cell proliferation (in the ER+ tumours), many molecules targeting this protein have been synthesized to counteract the estradiol action. Ferrocene derivatives have proved their efficiency against hormone-dependent breast cancer cells (MCF-7).
OBJECTIVE
In this study, we aimed to find new ferrocene derivatives having pharmacochemistry properties as potential drugs against human breast cancer cells.
METHODS
A series of 29 N-ferrocenylmethylaniline derivatives A0-A28 were synthesised, and their anti-proliferative activity against both hormone-dependent (MCF-7) and independent (MDA-MB 231) human breast cancer cell lines were performed using the MTT test. Molecular docking and drug-likeness prediction were also performed for the five most active derivatives towards MCF-7. A QSAR model was also developed for the perdition of the anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 cell lines using molecular descriptors and MLR analysis.
RESULTS
All studied derivatives demonstrated better cytotoxicity against MCF-7 compared to the MDA-MB-231 cell lines, and compounds A2, A9, A14, A17, and A27 were the most potent ones; however, but still less active than the standard anti-cancer drug crizotinib. The QSAR study revealed good predictive ability as shown by R2cv = 0.848.
CONCLUSION
In vitro and in silico results indicated that derivatives A2, A9, A14, A17, and A27 possess the highest anti-proliferative activity, t. These results can be used to design more potent N-ferrocenylmethylaniline derivatives as anti-proliferative agents.
Collapse