Synthesis and biological evaluation of 3-substituted-indolin-2-one derivatives containing chloropyrrole moieties

Expression and localization of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in the pig uterus during peri-implantation and determination of the in vitro effect of the angiogenesis inhibitor SU5416 on VEGF system expression

The aim of this work was to determine endometrial mRNA expression and uterine protein localization of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 during the estrous cycle and peri-implantation period in sows. Uterine tissues were collected from pregnant sows on days 12, 14, 16, and 18 after artificial insemination and from non-pregnant animals on days 2 and 12 of the estrous cycle (day 0 = day of estrus). Using immunohistochemistry, a positive signal for VEGF and its receptor VEGFR2 was found in uterine luminal epithelial cells, endometrial glands, stroma, blood vessels, and myometrium. A VEGFR1 signal was only found in endometrial and myometrial blood vessels and stroma. By day 18 of gestation, the mRNA expression levels of VEGF, VEGFR1, and VEGFR2 were higher than those observed on days 2 and 12 of the estrous cycle and on days 12, 14, and 16 of gestation. Then, a primary culture of sow endometrial epithelial cells was established to define the potential of the selective inhibition of VEGFR2 after treatment with inhibitor SU5416 and determine its effects on the expression pattern of the VEGF system. The endometrial epithelial cells treated with SU5416 showed a dose-dependent decrease in VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 mRNA expression. The present study provides additional evidence on the importance of the VEGF system during peri-implantation, as well as on the specific inhibitory activity of SU5416 in epithelial cells, which, as demonstrated, express the protein and mRNA of VEGF and its receptors VEGFR1 and VEGFR2.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and in silico study of pyrazoline-conjugated 2,4-dimethyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxylic acid derivatives

A potential molecular hybridization strategy was used to develop 24 novel pyrazoline-conjugated 2,4-dimethyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxylic acid and amide derivatives. The preliminary in vitro antimicrobial assay delivered four potential derivatives with growth inhibition in the range of 50.87-56.60% at the concentration of 32 µg/ml. In the search of an anticancer candidate, all derivatives were screened by NCI-60 at 10 µM concentration, revealing that 12 derivatives were potential agents against the various types of cancer cell lines, with growth inhibition in the range of 50.21-108.37%. The in vitro cytotoxicity assay against the cell line HEK293 (human embryonic kidney cells) and the hemolysis assay of the representative potent compounds propose their potential for a good therapeutic index. In silico studies of the most potent derivatives qualified their significant pharmacokinetic properties with good predicted oral bioavailability and their adherence to Lipinski's rule of five for druglikeness. A molecular docking study against VEGFR-2 with the best-scored conformations reinforced their anticancer potency. The docking study of the most potent compound against VEGFR-2 with the best-scored conformations displayed a binding affinity (-9.5 kcal/mol) comparable with the drug sunitinib (-9.9 kcal/mol) and exhibited that tighter interactions at the active adenosine triphosphate site might be responsible for anticancer potency.

Structure-activity relationship studies of indolin-2-one derivatives as vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitors and anticancer agents

Angiogenesis is a requirement for the growth of cancer cells. The family of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs) is the main target in metastasis. Indolin-2-one is proved to be an essential scaffold of antiangiogenic drugs. Sunitinib is the first oral indolin-2-one derivative marketed as a VEGFR inhibitor in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Therefore, novel compounds possessing the scaffold of sunitinib were designed and synthesized by different researchers to improve the anticancer activity, bioavailability, and solubility, and to decrease the toxicity of sunitinib. In this comprehensive review, the structure-activity relationship of different indolin-2-one analogs as VEGFR inhibitors is discussed. It has been observed that the indolin-2-one core is necessary for the inhibition of VEGFRs. It was determined that substitutions at C-3 of the oxindole ring play an important role in their antiangiogenic and anticancer activities.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel 2-Pyrrolidone-Fused (2-Oxoindolin-3-ylidene)methylpyrrole Derivatives as Potential Multi-Target Tyrosine Kinase Receptor Inhibitors

Signaling pathways of VEGFs and PDGFs are crucial in tumor angiogenesis, which is essential in solid tumor progression and metastasis. This study reports our strategy for designing and synthesizing a series of novel 2-pyrrolidone-fused (2-oxoindolin-3-ylidene)methylpyrrole derivatives as potential multi-target tyrosine kinase receptor inhibitors. The target compounds were obtained by condensation of 5-substituted oxindoles with N-substituted 2-pyrrolidone aldehyde 7 in satisfactory yields. Of these, 11 and 12 had the highest potency and, compared to sunitinib, showed: (1) significant increase in anti-proliferation of various cancer cells with a favorable selective index (SI); (2) higher inhibitory potency against both VEGFR-2 and PDGFRβ. The molecular modeling results showed that, in terms of VEGFR-2 binding, the synthesized products had a similar binding mode to sunitinib but with tighter interaction.