Design and Synthesis of Benzene Homologues Tethered with 1,2,4-Triazole and 1,3,4-Thiadiazole Motifs Revealing Dual MCF-7/HepG2 Cytotoxic Activity with Prominent Selectivity via Histone Demethylase LSD1 Inhibitory Effect

In this study, an efficient multistep synthesis of novel aromatic tricyclic hybrids incorporating different biological active moieties, such as 1,3,4-thiadiazole and 1,2,4-triazole, was reported. These target scaffolds are characterized by having terminal lipophilic or hydrophilic parts, and their structures are confirmed by different spectroscopic methods. Further, the cytotoxic activities of the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated using in vitro MTT cytotoxicity screening assay against three different cell lines, including HepG-2, MCF-7, and HCT-116, compared with the reference drug Taxol. The results showed variable performance against cancer cell lines, exhibiting MCF-7 and HepG-2 selectivities by active analogs. Among these derivatives, 1,2,4-triazoles 11 and 13 and 1,3,4-thiadiazole 18 were found to be the most potent compounds against MCF-7 and HepG-2 cancer cells. Moreover, structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies led to the identification of some potent LSD1 inhibitors. The tested compounds showed good LSD1 inhibitory activities, with an IC₅₀ range of 0.04–1.5 μM. Compounds 27, 23, and 22 were found to be the most active analogs with IC₅₀ values of 0.046, 0.065, and 0.074 μM, respectively. In addition, they exhibited prominent selectivity against a MAO target with apparent cancer cell apoptosis, resulting in DNA fragmentation. This research provides some new aromatic-centered 1,2,4-triazole-3-thione and 1,3,4-thiadiazole analogs as highly effective anticancer agents with good LSD1 target selectivity.

Novel molecular discovery of promising amidine-based thiazole analogues as potent dual Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 and 9 inhibitors: Anticancer activity data with prominent cell cycle arrest and DNA fragmentation analysis effects

Thiazole derivatives are known to possess various biological activities such as antiparasitic, antifungal, antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are important protease target involved in tumor progression including angiogenesis, tissue invasion, and migration. Therefore, MMPs have also been reported as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in many types of cancer. Herein, new aryl thiazoles were synthesized and evaluated for their anticancer effects on a panel of cancer cell lines including the invasive MDA-MB-231 line. Some of these compounds showed IC₅₀ values in the submicromolar range in anti-proliferative assays. In order to examine the relationship between their anticancer activity and MMPs targets, the compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on MMP-2 and 9. That data obtained revealed that most of these compounds were potent dual MMP-2/9 inhibitors at nanomolar concentrations. Among these, 2-(1-(2-(2-((E)-4-iodobenzylidene)hydrazineyl)-4-methylthiazol-5-yl)ethylidene)hydrazine-1-carboximidamide (4a) was the most potent non-selective dual MMP-2/9 inhibitor with inhibitory concentrations of 56 and 38 nM respectively. When compound 4a was tested in an MDA-MB-231, HCT-116, MCF-7 model, it effectively inhibited tumor growth, strongly induced cancer cell apoptosis, inhibit cell migration, and suppressed cell cycle progression leading to DNA fragmentation. Taken together, the results of our studies indicate that the newly discovered thiazole-based MMP-2/9 inhibitors have significant potential for anticancer treatment.