Targeting matrix metalloproteinases with novel diazepine substituted cinnamic acid derivatives: design, synthesis, in vitro and in silico studies

Approaches for the discovery of cinnamic acid derivatives with anticancer potential

INTRODUCTION

Cinnamic acid is a privileged scaffold for the design of biologically active compounds with putative anticancer potential, following different synthetic methodologies and procedures. Since there is a need for the production of potent anticancer, cinnamate moiety can significantly contribute in the design of new and more active anticancer agents.

AREAS COVERED

In this review, the authors provide a review on the synthetic approaches for the discovery of cinnamic acid derivatives with anticancer potential. Results from molecular simulations, hybridization, and chemical derivatization along with biological experiments in vitro and structural activity relationships are given, described, and discussed by the authors. Information for the mechanism of action is taken from original literature sources.

EXPERT OPINION

The authors suggest that (i) numerous areas of biology-pharmacology need to be considered: selectivity, in vivo studies, toxicity and drug-likeness, the mechanism of action in animals and humans, development of more efficient assays for various cancer types; (ii) hybridization techniques outbalance in the discovery and production of compounds with higher activity and greater selectivity; (iii) repositioning offers new anticancer cinnamic agents.

Evaluation of the effect of phenylpropanoids on the binding of heparin to human serum albumin and glycosylated human serum albumin concerning anticoagulant activity: A comparison study

The nonenzymatic advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the accumulation of AGEs are the two main factors associated with the long-term pathogenesis of diabetes. Human serum albumin (HSA) as the most abundant serum protein has a higher fortuity to be modified by nonenzymatic glycation. In this study, the interaction of three phenylpropanoids (caffeic acid (Caf), p-coumaric acid (Cou), and cinnamic acid (Cin)) toward HSA and glycosylated HSA (gHSA) was analyzed by multiple spectroscopic techniques combined with molecular docking. The formation of fibrils in HSA and gHSA was confirmed by the Thioflavin T (ThT) assay. The phenylpropanoids have shown anti-fibrillation properties in vitro. The obtained thermodynamic parameters indicated that hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces are the main forces in the binding interaction, and the quenching mechanism of the protein fluorescence is static. Molecular docking results, as well as the in vitro results, showed that Caf, Cou, and Cin exhibit more stable interactions with HSA, respectively. In addition, molecular docking analysis showed that Caf and Cou interact well with K199. Given the critical role of K199 in HSA glycosylation in diabetic patients, this process inhibits the interaction of stabilizer compounds and thus accelerates gHSA aggregation.

A study on the anticancer activity of imidazolyl benzamide derivative-IMUEB on a 549 lung cancer cell line

Background

Cancer is a deadly disease, which is due to the uncontrolled division of cells with abnormal or unusual characteristics. It is a consequence of lethal mutations occurring due to various chemical and physical carcinogens, affecting many cellular signalling pathways and leading to uncontrolled proliferation. In this study, we analyzed the effect of 4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-N-(2-(3-(4-methylbenzyl) ureido) ethyl)benzamide (IMUEB), an imidazole derivative, on A549 cells (lung cancer cells).

Methods

The MTT and LDH assays were performed to measure the cytotoxicity of IMUEB against A549 cells. Apoptotic mode of cell death of A549 cells was determined by fluorescence imaging by using different stains. Flow cytometry was performed to detect the cell cycle arrest. Western blotting was performed to determine the levels of apoptotic protein. Wound healing assay was performed to find the effect of IMUEB on cell migration. In silico molecular docking of IMUEB was performed to predict its affinity towards apoptotic proteins and metastasis related enzymes.

Result and Discussion

The MTT assay showed an increase in cytotoxicity with increasing concentrations of IMUEB. In addition, it was found that IMUEB arrests cell cycle at G1 phase as detected by flow cytometry analysis and induces apoptosis. The treatment with IMUEB drastically decreased the migratory potential of A549 cells as evaluated by migration and invasion assay. By Western blotting analysis, it was found that the concentration of caspase-3 was increased after the treatment with IMUEB.

Conclusion

Altogether, our results indicate that IMUEB shows antitumor activity by inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis in A549 cells.

Cinnamic acid hybrids as anticancer agents: A mini-review

Cancer, as a long-lasting and dramatic disease, affects almost one-third of human beings globally. Chemotherapeutics play an important role in cancer treatment, but multidrug resistance and severe adverse effects have already become the main causes of failure in tumor chemotherapy. Therefore, it is an urgent need to develop novel chemotherapeutics. Cinnamic acid contains a ubiquitous α,β-unsaturated acid moiety presenting potential therapeutic effects in the treatment of cancer as these derivatives could act on cancer cells by diverse mechanisms of action. Accordingly, cinnamic acid derivatives are critical scaffolds in discovering novel anticancer agents. This review provides a comprehensive overview of cinnamic acid hybrids as anticancer agents. The structure-activity relationship, as well as the mechanisms of action, are also discussed, covering articles published from 2012 to 2021.

Identification of Zinc-Binding Inhibitors of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 to Prevent Cancer Through Deep Learning and Molecular Dynamics Simulation Approach

The overexpression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is associated with tumor development and angiogenesis, and hence, it has been considered an attractive drug target for anticancer therapy. To assist in drug design endeavors for MMP-9 targets, an in silico study was presented to investigate whether our compounds inhibit MMP-9 by binding to the catalytic domain, similar to their inhibitor or not. For that, in the initial stage, a deep-learning algorithm was used for the predictive modeling of the CHEMBL321 dataset of MMP-9 inhibitors. Several regression models were built and evaluated based on R2, MAE MSE, RMSE, and Loss. The best model was utilized to screen the drug bank database containing 9,102 compounds to seek novel compounds as MMP-9 inhibitors. Then top high score compounds were selected for molecular docking based on the comparison between the score of the reference molecule. Furthermore, molecules having the highest docking scores were selected, and interaction mechanisms with respect to S1 pocket and catalytic zinc ion of these compounds were also discussed. Those compounds, involving binding to the catalytic zinc ion and the S1 pocket of MMP-9, were considered preferentially for molecular dynamics studies (100 ns) and an MM-PBSA (last 30 ns) analysis. Based on the results, we proposed several novel compounds as potential candidates for MMP-9 inhibition and investigated their binding properties with MMP-9. The findings suggested that these compounds may be useful in the design and development of MMP-9 inhibitors in the future.

Computational insights into the identification of a potent matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor from Indigofera aspalathoides to control cancer metastasis

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are the major proteolytic enzymes which assist in regulating the metastatic process by degrading the extracellular matrix proteins. In this study, we have investigated the anti-metastatic potential of major bioactive compounds in the medicinal plant Indigofera aspalathoides targeting matrix metalloproteinases (MMP2 & MMP9) and it's in silico pharmacokinetic profiles using computational studies. Indigofera aspalathoides (Sivanar vembu in Tamil) is a renowned medicinal herb in traditional Indian medicine which contains indigocarpan, mucronulatol, indigocarpan diacetate, erythroxydiol X and erythroxydiol Y as the major constituents. The 3-dimensional structure of MMP2 and MMP9 was designed by using I-tasser and Modeller and it was validated by PROCHECK. The structures of mucronulatol and indigocarpan have been retrieved from PubChem and indigocarpan diacetate, erythroxydiol X & Y were drawn by using Chemdraw Ultra 6.0. Batimastat was used as a positive control. Molecular docking was performed by using AutoDock 4.2 tools and AutoDock vina, an open-source program which signifies an effective interaction between the phytoligands and MMP2 & MMP9. From the results, AutoDock 4.2 have showed that indigocarpan possesses strong binding energy (ΔG) of - 7.68 kcal/mol towards MMP2 and - 6.35 kcal/mol towards MMP9, whereas batimastat showed binding energy (ΔG) of - 6.34 kcal/mol for MMP2 and - 5.66 kcal/mol for MMP9, meanwhile the results from AutoDock vina indicates that indigocarpan possesses strong binding energy (ΔG) of - 8.0 kcal/mol towards MMP2 and - 8.2 kcal/mol towards MMP9, whereas batimastat showed binding energy (ΔG) of - 7.2 kcal/mol for MMP2 and - 7.6 kcal/mol for MMP9. Also, the ADME and toxicity results suggest that the indigocarpan compound possesses a druggable pharmacokinetic potentiality and does not have carcinogenicity and Ames mutagenesis compared with other phytoligands. Hence, it is evident from our results that both AutoDock platforms strongly revealed that the phytoligand, indigocarpan possesses strong inhibitory activity against MMP2 and MMP9 to control cancer metastasis.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-02731-w.

Phenylpropanoids and its derivatives: biological activities and its role in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries

Phenylpropanoids and their derivatives are plant secondary metabolites widely present in fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, beverages, spices and herbs. They are known to have multifaceted effects which include antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anticancer activities and as well as exhibits renoprotective, neuroprotective, cardioprotective and hepatoprotective effects. Owing to their antioxidant, antimicrobial and photoprotective properties, these compounds have wide application in the food (preservation, packaging films and edible coating), pharmaceutical, cosmetic and other industries such as textile (colorant), biofuel (antioxidant additive) and sensors (sensing biologically relevant molecules). Phenylpropanoids are present in commercially available dietary supplements and skin care products. In this review, we have presented the current knowledge on the biosynthesis, occurrence, biological activities of phenylpropanoids and their derivatives, along with the mechanism of action and their potential applications in various industries.

Enzymatic inhibitory activity of iridoid glycosides from Picrorrhiza kurroa against matrix metalloproteinases: Correlating in vitro targeted screening and docking

One specific group of MMPs; gelatinases A (MMP-2) and B (MMP-9) are of precise interest in view of the development and progression of cancer. In the current work, an attempt was made to investigate the enzymatic inhibitory activity of Kutkin (KT), Kutkoside (KS), and Picroside I (PS) by inhibition assay and to further check the downregulation of the expression of mRNA levels of MMP-2 and -9. Further in silico docking studies were performed to investigate the interaction of KT, KS and PS with MMP-2 and MMP-9. The results revealed a dose dependent cytotoxic activity of the compounds under investigation and showed a significant inhibition of MMP-9 in comparison to the activity against MMP-2. In addition, a considerable decrease in expression of mRNA levels (MMP-9) was observed in KT, KS, and PS-treated MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 cancer cells as was detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (semi-quantitative RT-PCR). The molecular docking studies between KT, KS, PS with MMPs revealed that KT, KS, PS occupied the active site of MMP-9 and showed better binding interactions in comparison to MMP-2. The binding energies of the complexes were -7.4, -7.1 and -7.2 kJ/mol for KT, KS and PS with MMP-9, respectively and -8.9, -8.0 and -8.0 kJ/mol for KT, KS and PS with MMP-2, respectively. The findings from the in vitro studies revealed that KT, KS and PS exhibited significant anti-proliferative effects on both MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 breast cancer cells. In addition, the results of inhibition assay showed that MMP-9 activity was significantly inhibited by KT, KS and PS and the results were consistent with in silico assay.