Promise and challenges in drug discovery and development of hybrid anticancer drugs

Research progress in tumor therapy of carrier-free nanodrug

Carrier-free nanodrugs are a novel type of drug constructed by the self-assembly of drug molecules without carrier involvement. They have the characteristics of small particle size, easy penetration of various barriers, targeting tumors, and efficient release. In recent years, carrier-free nanodrugs have become a hot topic in tumor therapy as they solve the problems of low drug loading, poor biocompatibility, and low uptake efficiency of carrier nanodrugs. A series of recent studies have shown that carrier-free nanodrugs play a vital role in the treatment of various tumors, with similar or better effects than carrier nanodrugs. Based on the literature published in the past decades, this paper first summarizes the recent progress in the assembly modes of carrier-free nanodrugs, then describes common therapeutic modalities of carrier-free nanodrugs in tumor therapy, and finally depicts the existing challenges along with future trends of carrier-free nanodrugs. We hope that this review can guide the design and application of carrier-free nanodrugs in the future.

Novel coumarin-piperazine-2(5H)-furanone hybrids as potential anti-lung cancer agents: Synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular docking studies

Novel coumarin-piperazine-2(5H)-furanone hybrids 5a-l were efficiently synthesized by introducing a furanone scaffold into coumarin using piperazine as a linker. The cytotoxicity of all hybrids 5a-l were evaluated by MTT assay on human lung cancer A549 cells and normal human lung fibroblast WI-38 cells with cytarabine (CAR) as a positive control. Hybrid 5l (IC50 = 11.28 μM) was the most toxic to A549 cells, 18-fold more toxic than the reference CAR (IC50 = 202.57 μM). Moreover, hybrid 5l (IC50 = 411.93 μM) was less toxic to WI-38 cells, with a much higher selectivity (5l, SI ≈ 37, WI-38/A549) than CAR (SI ≈ 2). Structure-activity relationship analysis showed that both the cytotoxicity against A549 cells and selectivity (WI-38/A549) were greatly improved when the bornyl group was incorporated in the hybrids (5c, 5f, 5i and 5l). Further, hybrid 5l was more toxic and selective against four types of human lung cancer cells (A549, Calu-1, PC-9 and H460; IC50 = 5.72-45.46 μM; SI ≈ 9-72) than three other types of human cancer cells (SK-BR-3, 786-O and SK-OV-3, IC50 = 39.07-130.82 μM; SI ≈ 0-2), showing remarkable specificity. In particular, hybrid 5l (IC50 = 5.72 μM) showed the highest cytotoxicity against H460 cells with the highest selectivity of up to 72 (WI-38/H460). Flow cytometric analysis showed that hybrid 5l induced apoptosis in H460 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Molecular docking studies revealed a high binding affinity of hybrid 5l with CDK2 protein. Hybrid 5l is expected to be a leading candidate for anti-lung cancer agents.

Mitigating the resistance of MCF-7 cancer cells to Doxorubicin under hypoxic conditions with novel coumarin based carbonic anhydrase IX and XII inhibitors

In the present study, the design and synthesis of novel coumarin derivatives 8a-h, 11a-d and 16a-c as potential selective inhibitors for the tumor associated human carbonic anhydrase isoforms (hCA IX and XII) was reported. All the newly synthesized derivatives showed potent to mild activity against the targeted CA IX (KI = 0.08-9.57 µM), with selectivity indices over CA I (SI = 2.0-21.9) and over CA II (SI = 1.1-15.7). They showed similar activities against CA XII (KI = 0.06-9.48 µM) with selectivity indices over CA I (SI = 1.4-21.2) and CA II (SI = 0.9-15.5). Compound 16b featuring sulfonamide function possessed promising inhibitory activities against the targeted isoforms CA IX and XII with KI values of 0.08 and 0.06 µM, respectively. Interestingly, it was found that using compound 16b at a nontoxic concentration as an adjuvant with Doxorubicin against MCF-7 cells enhanced the cytotoxicity under hypoxia by almost 3.5 folds; IC50 decreased from 25.74 to 7.43 µM. Therefore, compound 16b restored the cytotoxicity of Doxorubicin against MCF-7 cells under hypoxia, almost as normoxia. Furthermore, flow cytometry analysis of a combination treatment of compound 16b and Doxorubicin to the MCF7 cell line revealed an increase in cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and a more efficient apoptotic effect than Doxorubicin alone. Furthermore, compound 16b showed no cytotoxicity against normal breast MCF-10A cell line (IC50 = 296.25 µM).

Evaluation of Anticancer Activity of Nucleoside-Nitric Oxide Photo-Donor Hybrids

Herein, we report the synthesis of a new hybrid compound based on a 2'-deoxyuridine nucleoside conjugated with a NO photo-donor moiety (dU-t-NO) via CuAAC click chemistry. Hybrid dU-t-NO, as well as two previously reported 2'-deoxyadenosine based hybrids (dAdo-S-NO and dAdo-t-NO), were evaluated for their cytotoxic and cytostatic activities in selected cancer cell lines. dAdo-S-NO and dAdo-t-NO hybrids displayed higher activity with respect to dU-t-NO. All hybrids showed effective release of NO in the micromolar range. The photochemical behavior of the newly reported hybrid, dU-t-NO, was studied in the RKO colon carcinoma cell line, whereas the dAdo-t-NO hybrid was tested in both colon carcinoma RKO and hepatocarcinoma Hep 3B2.1-7 cell lines to evaluate the potential effect of NO released upon irradiation on cell viability. A customized irradiation apparatus for in vitro experiments was also designed.

Recent Advances in the Development of Hybrid Drugs

In the search for innovative, selective, effective, and safer treatment strategies, hybrid drugs have gained worldwide momentum [...].

Synthesis of novel bioactive pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives with potent cytotoxicity through apoptosis as PIM-1 kinase inhibitors

Direct synthesis and cytotoxicity activity of new series of pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine was described. Nicotinamide 2 was synthesized via cyclization of N-cyclohexyl derivative with cyanoacetamide. The o-aminonicotinonitrile 2 was subjected to acylation or thio acylation process followed by intramolecular heterocyclization to afford the desired pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine (3-10) and pyrido triazine 11. Compounds 4 and 11 exhibited remarkable cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cells with IC50 values of 0.57 μM and 1.31 μM and IC50 values of 1.13 μM and 0.99 μM against HepG2 cells. Interestingly, compounds 4 and 10 had potent PIM-1 kinase inhibition with IC50 values of 11.4 and 17.2 nM, respectively, with inhibition of 97.8% and 94.6% compared to staurosporine (IC50 = 16.7 nM, with 95.6% inhibition). Moreover, compound 4 significantly activated apoptosis in MCF-7 cells, increasing the cell apoptosis by 58.29-fold by having 36.14% total apoptosis in treated cells compared to 0.62% for control. Moreover, it arrested the cell cycle at the G1 phase. PIM-1 kinase inhibition was virtually elucidated by the molecular docking study, highlighting binding interactions of the lead compound 4 towards the PIM-1 protein. Accordingly, compound 4 was validated as a promising PIM-1 targeted chemotherapeutic agent to treat breast cancer.

Design, synthesis, in silico molecular docking, and ADMET studies of quinoxaline-isoxazole-piperazine conjugates as EGFR-targeting agents

In this paper, we report the synthesis of quinoxaline-isoxazole-piperazine conjugates. The anticancer activity was evaluated against three human cancer cell lines, including MCF-7 (breast), HepG-2 (liver), and HCT-116 (colorectal). The outcomes of the tested compounds 5d, 5e, and 5f have shown more potent activity when compared to the standard drug erlotinib. In a cell survivability test (MCF-10A), three potent compounds (5d, 5e, and 5f) were evaluated against the normal breast cell line, although neither of them displayed any significant cytotoxicity with IC50 values greater than 84 μM. Furthermore, the compounds 5d, 5e, and 5f were tested for tyrosine kinase EGFR inhibitory action using erlotinib as the reference drug and compound 5e was shown to be more potent in inhibiting the tyrosine kinase EGFR than sorafenib. In addition to this, molecular docking studies of compounds 5d, 5e, and 5f demonstrated that these compounds had more EGFR-binding interactions. The potent compounds 5d, 5e, and 5f were subjected to in silico pharmacokinetic assessment by SWISS, ADME, and pkCSM. While the compounds 5d, 5e, and 5f followed Lipinski, Veber, Egan, and Muegge rules without any deviation.

Silver-Catalyzed Cascade Radical Bicyclization Reaction: An Atom- and Step-Economical Strategy Accessing γ-Lactam Containing Isoquinolinediones

An efficient and convenient method for the cascade radical bicyclization of N-phenyl-4-pentenamides with N-methyl-N-methacryloylbenzamides under silver-catalyzed conditions is described. Based on this newly developed strategy, a variety of valuable γ-lactam containing isoquinolinediones can be effectively synthesized in one step within 0.5 h, during which two C-C bonds, one C-N bond, and two new N-heterocycles were formed concurrently. With N-aryl allyl carbamates, similar 2-oxazolidinone substituted isoquinolinedione compounds can likewise be produced. The approach demonstrates wide functional group compatibility, high step- and atom-economy, and the ability to be scaled up to gram quantities in a satisfactory yield. It marks the first instance of introducing γ-lactams into isoquinoline-1,3(2H,4H)-diones to construct linked hybrid drug-like molecules, thereby making this strategy highly attractive to drug discovery.

Molecular Hybridization as a Strategy for Developing Artemisinin-Derived Anticancer Candidates

Artemisinin is a natural compound extracted from Artemisia species belonging to the Asteraceae family. Currently, artemisinin and its derivatives are considered among the most significant small-molecule antimalarial drugs. Artemisinin and its derivatives have also been shown to possess selective anticancer properties, however, there are several limitations and gaps in knowledge that retard their repurposing as effective anticancer agents. Hybridization resulting from a covalent combination of artemisinin with one or more active pharmacophores has emerged as a promising approach to overcome several issues. The variety of hybridization partners allows improvement in artemisinin activity by tuning the ability of conjugated artemisinin to interact with various molecule targets involved in multiple biological pathways. This review highlights the current scenario of artemisinin-derived hybrids with potential anticancer activity. The synthetic approaches to achieve the corresponding hybrids and the structure-activity relationships are discussed to facilitate further rational design of more effective candidates.

Novel 4-thiophenyl-pyrazole, pyridine, and pyrimidine derivatives as potential antitumor candidates targeting both EGFR and VEGFR-2; design, synthesis, biological evaluations, and in silico studies

In this article, we continued our previous effort to develop new selective anticancer candidates based on the basic pharmacophoric requirements of both EGFR and VEGFR-2 inhibitors. Therefore, twenty-two novel 4-thiophenyl-pyrazole, pyridine, and pyrimidine derivatives were designed and examined as dual EGFR/VEGFR-2 inhibitors. Besides, the previously reported antimicrobial activities of the aforementioned nuclei motivated us to screen their antibacterial and antifungal activities as well. First, the antitumor activities of the newly synthesized derivatives were evaluated against two cancer cell lines (HepG-2 and MCF-7). Notably, compounds 2a, 6a, 7a, 10b, 15a, and 18a exhibited superior anticancer activities against both HepG-2 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines. These candidates were selected to further evaluate their anti-EGFR and anti-VEGFR-2 potentialities which were found to be very promising compared to erlotinib and sorafenib, respectively. Both 10b and 2a derivatives achieved better dual EGFR/VEGFR-2 inhibition with IC₅₀ values of 0.161 and 0.141 μM and 0.209 and 0.195 μM, respectively. Moreover, the most active 10b was selected to evaluate the exact phase of cell cycle arrest and to investigate the exact mechanism of cancer cell death whether it be due to apoptosis or necrosis. On the other hand, all the synthesized compounds were tested against Gram-positive bacteria such as S. aureus and B. subtilis as well as Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli and P. aeuroginosa. Also, the antifungal activity was investigated against C. albicans and A. flavus strains. The findings of the antimicrobial tests revealed that most of the investigated compounds exhibited strong to moderate antibacterial and antifungal effects. Furthermore, to understand the pattern by which the investigated compounds bound to the active site, all the newly synthesized candidates were subjected to two different docking processes into the EGFR and VEGFR-2 binding sites. Besides, we tried to correlate compound 10b and the reference drugs (erlotinib and sorafenib) through DFT calculations. Finally, following the biological data of the new pyrazole, pyridine, and pyrimidine derivatives as anticancer and antimicrobial candidates, we concluded a very interesting SAR for further optimization.

Pyrazole derivatives of pyridine and naphthyridine as proapoptotic agents in cervical and breast cancer cells

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The increasing prevalence and resistance to chemotherapy is responsible for driving the search of novel molecules to combat this disease. In search of novel compounds with pro-apoptotic potential, pyrazolo-pyridine and pyrazolo-naphthyridine derivatives were investigated against cervical cancer (HeLa) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cells. The anti-proliferative activity was determined through the MTT assay. Potent compounds were then analyzed for their cytotoxic and apoptotic activity through a lactate dehydrogenase assay and fluorescence microscopy after propidium iodide and DAPI staining. Flow cytometry was used to determine cell cycle arrest in treated cells and pro-apoptotic effect was verified through measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential and activation of caspases. Compounds 5j and 5k were found to be most active against HeLa and MCF-7 cells, respectively. G0/G1 cell cycle arrest was observed in treated cancer cells. Morphological features of apoptosis were also confirmed, and an increased oxidative stress indicated the involvement of reactive oxygen species in apoptosis. The compound-DNA interaction studies demonstrated an intercalative mode of binding and the comet assay confirmed the DNA damaging effects. Finally, potent compounds demonstrated a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and increased levels of activated caspase-9 and -3/7 confirmed the induction of apoptosis in treated HeLa and MCF-7 cells. The present work concludes that the active compounds 5j and 5k may be used as lead candidates for the development of lead drug molecules against cervical and breast cancer.

Heterocycles in Breast Cancer Treatment: The Use of Pyrazole Derivatives

Among the aromatic heterocycle rings, pyrazole -a five-membered ring with two adjacent nitrogen atoms in its structure has been postulated as a potent candidate in the pharmacological context. This moiety is an interesting therapeutic target covering a broad spectrum of biological activities due to its presence in many natural substances. Hence, the potential of the pyrazole derivatives as antitumor agents has been explored in many investigations, showing promising results in some cases. In this sense, breast cancer, which is already the leading cause of cancer mortality in women in some countries, has been the topic selected for this review, which covers a range of different research from the earliest studies published in 2003 to the most recent ones in 2021.

Rational Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Pyrazoline-Based Antiproliferative Agents in MCF-7 Cancer Cells

Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast divide continuously without control. There are great limitations in cancer chemotherapy. Hence, it is essential to search for new cancer therapeutics. Herein, a novel series of EGFR/HER2 dual inhibitors has been designed based on the hybridization of thiazole and pyrazoline fragments. The synthesized compounds were screened for their anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and MCF-10 normal breast cell line. Interestingly, synthesized compounds 6e and 6k showed very potent antiproliferative activity towards MCF-7 with IC50 values of 7.21 and 8.02 µM, respectively. Furthermore, enzymatic assay was performed against EGFR and HER2 to prove the dual inhibitory action. Compounds 6e and 6k showed potent inhibitory activity for EGFR with IC50 of 0.009 and 0.051 µM, respectively, and for HER2 with IC50 of 0.013 and 0.027 µM, respectively. Additionally, compounds 6e and 6k significantly stimulated apoptotic breast cancer cell death. Compound 6e was further explored for its anticancer activity in vivo using a Xenograft model. Moreover, computational modeling studies, ADMET studies and toxicity prediction were performed to investigate their potential drug candidates.

Development of Novel 1,3-Disubstituted-2-Thiohydantoin Analogues with Potent Anti-Inflammatory Activity; In Vitro and In Silico Assessments

Inflammation is the main cause of several autoimmune diseases, including type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, bullous pemphigoid, paraneoplastic pemphigoid, and multiple sclerosis. Currently, there is an urgent demand for the discovery of novel anti-inflammatory drugs with potent activity but also safe for long-term application. Toward this aim, the present study reported the design, synthesis, and characterization of a set of novel 1,3-disubstituted-2-thiohydantoins derivatives. The anti-inflammatory activity of synthesized compounds was assessed against murine leukemia cell line (RAW264.7) by evaluating the cytotoxicity activity and their potency to prevent nitric oxide (NO) production. The results revealed that the synthesized compounds possess a considerable cytotoxic activity together with the ability to reduce the NO production in murine leukemia cell line (RAW264.7). Among synthesized compounds, compound 7 exhibited the most potent cytotoxic activity with IC₅₀ of 197.68 μg/mL, compared to celecoxib drug (IC₅₀ value 251.2 μg/mL), and demonstrated a significant ability to diminish the NO production (six-fold reduction). Exploring the mode of action responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity revealed that compound 7 displays a significant and dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β. Furthermore, compound 7 demonstrated the ability to significantly reduce the expression of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α at 50 μg/mL, as compared to Celecoxib. Finally, detailed molecular modelling studies indicated that compound 7 exhibits a substantial binding affinity toward the binding pocket of the cyclooxygenase 2 enzyme. Taken together, our study reveals that 1,3-disubstituted-2-thiohydantoin could be considered as a promising scaffold for the development of potent anti-inflammatory agents.

Concept of Hybrid Drugs and Recent Advancements in Anticancer Hybrids

Cancer is a complex disease, and its treatment is a big challenge, with variable efficacy of conventional anticancer drugs. A two-drug cocktail hybrid approach is a potential strategy in recent drug discovery that involves the combination of two drug pharmacophores into a single molecule. The hybrid molecule acts through distinct modes of action on several targets at a given time with more efficacy and less susceptibility to resistance. Thus, there is a huge scope for using hybrid compounds to tackle the present difficulties in cancer medicine. Recent work has applied this technique to uncover some interesting molecules with substantial anticancer properties. In this study, we report data on numerous promising hybrid anti-proliferative/anti-tumor agents developed over the previous 10 years (2011–2021). It includes quinazoline, indole, carbazole, pyrimidine, quinoline, quinone, imidazole, selenium, platinum, hydroxamic acid, ferrocene, curcumin, triazole, benzimidazole, isatin, pyrrolo benzodiazepine (PBD), chalcone, coumarin, nitrogen mustard, pyrazole, and pyridine-based anticancer hybrids produced via molecular hybridization techniques. Overall, this review offers a clear indication of the potential benefits of merging pharmacophoric subunits from multiple different known chemical prototypes to produce more potent and precise hybrid compounds. This provides valuable knowledge for researchers working on complex diseases such as cancer.

Dual Targeting of Steroid Sulfatase and 17β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1 by a Novel Drug-Prodrug Approach: A Potential Therapeutic Option for the Treatment of Endometriosis

A novel approach for the dual inhibition of steroid sulfatase (STS) and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1(17β HSD1) by a single drug was explored, starting from in-house 17β HSD1 inhibitors via masking their phenolic OH group with a sulfamate ester. The sulfamates were intentionally designed as drugs for the inhibition of STS and, at the same time, prodrugs for 17β-HSD1 inhibition ("drug-prodrug approach"). The most promising sulfamates 13, 16, 18-20, 22-24, 36, and 37 showed nanomolar IC₅₀ values for STS inhibition in a cellular assay and their corresponding phenols displayed potent 17β-HSD1 inhibition in cell-free and cellular assays, high selectivity over 17β-HSD2, reasonable metabolic stability, and low estrogen receptor α affinity. A close relationship was found between the liberation of the phenolic compound by sulfamate hydrolysis and 17β-HSD1 inactivation. These results showed that the envisaged drug-prodrug concept was successfully implemented. The novel compounds constitute a promising class of therapeutics for the treatment of endometriosis and other estrogen-dependent diseases.

Recent Applications of the Multicomponent Synthesis for Bioactive Pyrazole Derivatives

Pyrazole and its derivatives are considered a privileged N-heterocycle with immense therapeutic potential. Over the last few decades, the pot, atom, and step economy (PASE) synthesis of pyrazole derivatives by multicomponent reactions (MCRs) has gained increasing popularity in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry. The present review summarizes the recent developments of multicomponent reactions for the synthesis of biologically active molecules containing the pyrazole moiety. Particularly, it covers the articles published from 2015 to date related to antibacterial, anticancer, antifungal, antioxidant, α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory, anti-inflammatory, antimycobacterial, antimalarial, and miscellaneous activities of pyrazole derivatives obtained exclusively via an MCR. The reported analytical and activity data, plausible synthetic mechanisms, and molecular docking simulations are organized in concise tables, schemes, and figures to facilitate comparison and underscore the key points of this review. We hope that this review will be helpful in the quest for developing more biologically active molecules and marketed drugs containing the pyrazole moiety.

New phthalimide-based derivatives as EGFR-TK inhibitors: Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular modeling study

A novel series of phthalimide derivatives was synthesized and evaluated for in vitro antitumor activity against six human cancer cell lines; HepG-2, HCT-116, MCF-7, Hep2, PC3 and Hela.The obtained results revealed that compound 32 was the most potent antitumor, while compounds 33, 22 and 24 showed strong activity against all tested cell lines. Further biological evaluation of the most active compounds was done and their in vitro EGFR-TK inhibition was tested, and the results came in accordance with the results of antitumor testing, where 32 displayed promising inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ = 0.065 µM) compared to the standard drug erlotinib (IC₅₀ = 0.067 µM). In addition, compounds 48, 22, 28 and 19 showed strong inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ = 0.089, 0.093, 0.147 and 0.152 µM respectively). Cell cycle analysis was conducted and the results revealed that 32 induced cell cycle arrest on Hela and MCF-7 at G0-G1 phase and Pre-G1 phase causing cell death mainly via apoptosis. Additionally, in vivo antitumor screening revealed that 32 reduced both body weight and tumor volume in solid tumor utilizing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) animal model. Molecular modeling study showed that 32 and 48 have the highest affinity for binding with the active site of EGFR-TK with docking score comparable to erlotinib. Compounds 32 and 48 could be used as template models for further optimization.

A Review on Mechanistic Insight of Plant Derived Anticancer Bioactive Phytocompounds and Their Structure Activity Relationship

Cancer is a disorder that rigorously affects the human population worldwide. There is a steady demand for new remedies to both treat and prevent this life-threatening sickness due to toxicities, drug resistance and therapeutic failures in current conventional therapies. Researchers around the world are drawing their attention towards compounds of natural origin. For decades, human beings have been using the flora of the world as a source of cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Currently, clinically approved anticancer compounds are vincristine, vinblastine, taxanes, and podophyllotoxin, all of which come from natural sources. With the triumph of these compounds that have been developed into staple drug products for most cancer therapies, new technologies are now appearing to search for novel biomolecules with anticancer activities. Ellipticine, camptothecin, combretastatin, curcumin, homoharringtonine and others are plant derived bioactive phytocompounds with potential anticancer properties. Researchers have improved the field further through the use of advanced analytical chemistry and computational tools of analysis. The investigation of new strategies for administration such as nanotechnology may enable the development of the phytocompounds as drug products. These technologies have enhanced the anticancer potential of plant-derived drugs with the aim of site-directed drug delivery, enhanced bioavailability, and reduced toxicity. This review discusses mechanistic insights into anticancer compounds of natural origins and their structural activity relationships that make them targets for anticancer treatments.

Innovations in Genomics and Big Data Analytics for Personalized Medicine and Health Care: A Review

Big data in health care is a fast-growing field and a new paradigm that is transforming case-based studies to large-scale, data-driven research. As big data is dependent on the advancement of new data standards, technology, and relevant research, the future development of big data applications holds foreseeable promise in the modern day health care revolution. Enormously large, rapidly growing collections of biomedical omics-data (genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, glycomics, etc.) and clinical data create major challenges and opportunities for their analysis and interpretation and open new computational gateways to address these issues. The design of new robust algorithms that are most suitable to properly analyze this big data by taking into account individual variability in genes has enabled the creation of precision (personalized) medicine. We reviewed and highlighted the significance of big data analytics for personalized medicine and health care by focusing mostly on machine learning perspectives on personalized medicine, genomic data models with respect to personalized medicine, the application of data mining algorithms for personalized medicine as well as the challenges we are facing right now in big data analytics.

Molecular Insights into Therapeutic Potentials of Hybrid Compounds Targeting Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most complex progressive neurological disorders involving degeneration of neuronal connections in brain cells leading to cell death. AD is predominantly detected among elder people (> 65 years), mostly diagnosed with the symptoms of memory loss and cognitive dysfunctions. The multifarious pathogenesis of AD comprises the accumulation of pathogenic proteins, decreased neurotransmission, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. The conventional therapeutic approaches are limited to symptomatic benefits and are ineffective against disease progression. In recent years, researchers have shown immense interest in the designing and fabrication of various novel therapeutics comprised of naturally isolated hybrid molecules. Hybrid therapeutic compounds are developed from the combination of pharmacophores isolated from bioactive moieties which specifically target and block various AD-associated pathogenic pathways. The method of designing hybrid molecules has numerous advantages over conventional multitarget drug development methods. In comparison to in silico high throughput screening, hybrid molecules generate quicker results and are also less expensive than fragment-based drug development. Designing hybrid-multitargeted therapeutic compounds is thus a prospective approach in developing an effective treatment for AD. Nevertheless, several issues must be addressed, and additional researches should be conducted to develop hybrid therapeutic compounds for clinical usage while keeping other off-target adverse effects in mind. In this review, we have summarized the recent progress on synthesis of hybrid compounds, their molecular mechanism, and therapeutic potential in AD. Using synoptic tables, figures, and schemes, the review presents therapeutic promise and potential for the development of many disease-modifying hybrids into next-generation medicines for AD.

Novel 1,2,3-Triazole-Coumarin Hybrid Glycosides and Their Tetrazolyl Analogues: Design, Anticancer Evaluation and Molecular Docking Targeting EGFR, VEGFR-2 and CDK-2

This study represents the design and synthesis of a new set of triazole-coumarin-glycosyl hybrids and their tetrazole hybrid analogues possessing various sugar moieties and modified analogues. All the newly synthesized derivatives were screened for their cytotoxic activities against a panel of human cancer cell lines. The coumarin derivatives 10, 13 and 15 derivatives revealed potent cytotoxic activities against Paca-2, Mel-501, PC-3 and A-375 cancer cell lines. These promising analogues were further examined for their inhibitory assessment against EGFR, VEGFR-2 and CDK-2/cyclin A2 kinases. The coumarin-tetrazole 10 displayed broad superior inhibitory activity against all screened enzymes compared with the reference drugs, erlotinib, sorafenib and roscovitine, respectively. The impact of coumarin-tetrazole 10 upon cell cycle and apoptosis induction was determined to detect its mechanism of action. Additionally, it upregulated the levels of casp-3, casp-7 and cytochrome-c proteins and downregulated the PD-1 level. Finally, molecular docking study was simulated to afford better rationalization and gain insight into the binding affinity between the promising derivatives and their targeted enzymes, which could be used as an optimum lead for further modification in the anticancer field.

Discovery of 3-chlorobenzyl-linked 1,9-diazaspiro[5.5]undecane derivatives, a lead for dengue virus type 2 infection

Dengue virus is a worldwide health threat with 400 million yearly infections. Given a lack in specific therapeutics, the current work reports DENV2 inhibitory activity in newly designed compounds that are more potent than the standard drug ribavirin.

NO-HDAC dual inhibitors

HDAC inhibitors and NO donors have both demonstrated independently broad therapeutic potential in a variety of diseases. Borretto et al. presented the topic of NO-HDAC dual inhibitors for the first time in 2013 as an attractive new topic. Here we collected the general structure of all synthesized NO-HDAC dual inhibitors, lead compounds, synthesis methods and biological features of the most potent dual NO-HDAC inhibitor in each category with the intention of assisting in the synthesis and optimization of new drug-like compounds for diverse diseases. Based on studies done so far, NO-HDAC dual inhibitors have displayed satisfactory results against wound healing (3), heart hypertrophy (3), inflammatory, cardiovascular, neuromuscular illnesses (11a-11e) and cancer (6a-6o, 9a-9d, 10a-10d, 16 and 17). NO-HDAC dual inhibitors can have high therapeutic potential for various diseases due to their new properties, NO properties, HDAC inhibitor properties and also due to the effects of NO on HDAC enzymes.

Synthesis and cytotoxic evaluation of some novel 3-[2-(2-phenyl-thiazol-4-yl)-ethyl]-3H-pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-one derivatives

Background and purpose

Pyridopyrimidine and its derivatives have a variety of chemical and biological significances. Thiazole-containing compounds have also been reported to have a wide range of biological activities. Due to the valuable cytotoxic effects of both thiazole and pyridopyrimidinone derivatives, a series of pyridopyrimidinone-thiazole hybrids were synthesized in the present study.

Experimental approach

Briefly, different acyl chlorides were reacted with 2-amino nicotinic acid followed by anhydride acetic to give the corresponding pyridobenzoxazinones. The aminothiazole derivative G was also prepared via a multistep procedure and incorporated into the benzoxazinones to furnish the target pyridopyrimidinone, K1-K5. Furthermore, the cytotoxic activity of the final compounds was determined against MCF-7 and HeLa cell lines using MTT assay.

Findings/Results

The results indicated that aromatic substitution on C2 of pyridopyrimidine nucleus was in favor of cytotoxic activity on both cell lines, of which, compound K5 bearing a chlorophenyl group showed the highest cytotoxicity.

Conclusion and implications

The results of the present study are valuable in terms of synthesis of hybrid molecules and also cytotoxic evaluations which can be useful for future investigations about the design of novel pyridopyrimidinone-thiazole hybrids possessing better cytotoxic activities.

Quantitative Analysis of the Potency of Equimolar Two-Drug Combinations and Combi-Molecules Involving Kinase Inhibitors In Vitro: The Concept of Balanced Targeting

The median-effect principle proposed by Chou and Talalay is the most effective approach to parameterize interactions between several agents in combination. However, this method cannot be used to evaluate the effectiveness of equimolar drug combinations, which are comparative references for dual-targeting molecular design. Here, using data acquired through the development of “combi-molecules” blocking two kinases (e.g., EGFR-c-Src and EGFR-c-Met), we established potency indices for equimolar and dual-targeted inhibitors. If the fold difference (κ) between the IC50 of the two individual kinase inhibitors was >6, the IC50 of their equimolar combination resembled that of the more potent inhibitor. Hence, the “combi-targeting” of the two kinases was considered “imbalanced” and the combination ineffective. However, if κ ≤ 6, the IC50 of the combination fell below that of each individual drug and the combi-targeting was considered “balanced” and the combination effective. We also showed that combi-molecules should be compared with equimolar combinations only under balanced conditions and propose a new parameter Ω for validating their effectiveness. A multi-targeted drug is effective if Ω < 1, where Ω is defined as the IC50 of the drug divided by that of the corresponding equimolar combination. Our study provides a methodology to determine the in vitro potency of equimolar two-drug combinations as well as combi-/hybrid molecules inhibiting two different kinase targets.

Multitargeting approaches involving carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: hybrid drugs against a variety of disorders

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1) are enzymes involved in a multitude of diseases, and their inhibitors are in clinical use as drugs for the management of glaucoma, epilepsy, obesity, and tumours. In the last decade, multitargeting approaches have been proposed by hybridisation of CA inhibitors (CAIs) of sulphonamide, coumarin, and sulphocoumarin types with NO donors, CO donors, prostaglandin analogs, β-adrenergic blockers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and a variety of anticancer agents (cytotoxic drugs, kinase/telomerase inhibitors, P-gp and thioredoxin inhibitors). Many of the obtained hybrids showed enhanced efficacy compared to the parent drugs, making multitargeting an effective and innovative approach for various pharmacological applications.