Pyrimidines-Based Heterocyclic Compounds: Synthesis, Cytoxicity Evaluation and Molecular Docking

Synthesis, DFT, and in silico biological evaluation of chalcone bearing pyrazoline ring against Helicobacter pylori receptors

Peptic ulcer disease (PUD), often caused by Helicobacter pylori infection, is a prevalent gastrointestinal condition characterized by the erosion of the gastric or duodenal mucosal lining. H. pylori adheres to gastric epithelial cells, secreting toxins and disrupting the stomach's defenses. H. pylori relies on various receptors to establish infection, making these molecules attractive therapeutic targets. This study aimed to develop novel anti-ulcer compounds by combining benzothiazole, pyrazoline, and chalcone pharmacophores. A series of chalcone derivatives 4a-c were synthesized via Claisen-Schmidt condensation and characterized using spectroscopic techniques such as FT-IR, NMR and elemental analysis. The DFT calculations, using B3LYP method with 6-311G basis set, revealed the p-tolyl derivative 4b exhibited the highest thermal stability while the p-bromophenyl derivative 4c showed the lowest stability but highest chemical reactivity. The HOMO-LUMO energy gaps as well as the dipole moments decreased in the order: 4b > 4a > 4c, reflecting a similar reactivity trend. Molecular docking showed ligands 4a-c bound effectively to the H. pylori urease enzyme, with docking scores from -5.3862 to -5.7367 kcal/mol with superior affinity over lansoprazole. Key interactions involved hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic pi-hydrogen bonds with distances ranging 3.46-4.34 Å with active site residues ASN666, SER714 and ASN810. The combined anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and H. pylori anti-adhesion properties make these novel chalcones promising PUD therapeutic candidates.

Design, Synthesis, Characterization, and Cytotoxicity of New Pyrazolylmethylene-2-thioxoimidazolidin-4-one Derivatives towards Androgen-Sensitive LNCaP Prostate Cancer Cells

A new class of pyrazolylmethylene-2-thioxoimidazolidin-4-one derivatives 3a-p were rationally designed and synthesized with the aim of exploring their potential as treatments for prostate cancer. The synthesized compounds 3a-p were biologically analyzed for their anticancer effects against AR+LNCaP, AR-PC-3, and Wi38 cell lines. The observed IC50 values against AR+LNCaP ranged between 10.27 ± 0.14 and 109.72 ± 2.06 µM after 24 h of incubation. Compounds 3i-k, 3m, and 3o-p recorded IC50 values of 05.22 ± 0.12 to 11.75 ± 0.07 µM after 48 h incubation in the presence of 1 nM DHT, with higher selectivity towards AR+LNCaP. Moreover, compounds 3i and 3k significantly induced Caspase 3 accumulation, reduced DNA content at the various stages of the cell cycle, and ultimately caused AR+LNCaP cell growth arrest, as confirmed by cell apoptosis assays. These findings suggest that these analogues of androgen receptor blockers have promising potential for further investigation as effective treatments for prostate cancer.

Design, synthesis, in-silico studies and apoptotic activity of novel amide enriched 2-(1H)- quinazolinone derivatives

Cancer is a broad classification of diseases that can affect any organ or body tissue due to aberrant cellular proliferation for unknown reasons. Many present chemotherapeutic drugs are highly toxic and have little selectivity. Additionally, they lead to the development of medication resistance. Therefore, developing tailored chemotherapeutic drugs with minimal side effects and good selectivity is crucial for cancer treatment. 2-(1H)-Quinazolinone is one of the vital scaffold and anticancer activity is one of the prominent biological activities of this class. Here we report the novel set of amide-enriched 2-(1H)-quinazolinone derivatives (7a-j) and their apoptotic activity with the help of MTT assay method against four human cancer cell lines: PC3 (prostate cancer), DU-145 (prostate cancer), A549 (lung cancer), and MCF7 (breast cancer). When compared to etoposide, every synthetic test compound (7a-j) exhibited moderate to excellent activity. The IC50 values of the new amide derivatives (7a-j) varied from 0.07 ± 0.0061 μM to 10.8 ± 0.69 μM. While the positive control, etoposide, exhibited 1.97 ± 0.45 μM to 3.08 ± 0.135 μM range. Among the novel amide derivatives (7a-j), in particular, 7i and 7j showed strong apoptotic activity against MCF7; 7h showed against PC3, and 7g showed against DU-145. Molecular docking studies of test compounds (7a-j) with the EGFR tyrosine kinase domain (PDB ID: 1M17) protein provided the significant docking scores for each test compound (7a-j) (-9.00 to -9.67 kcal/mol). Additionally, DFT investigations and MD simulations validated the predictions of molecular docking. According to the findings of the ADME analysis, oral absorption by humans is anticipated to be higher than 85 % for all test compounds.

Induction of breast cancer cell apoptosis by novel thiouracil-fused heterocyclic compounds through boosting of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and DFT study

Breast cancer is a common public health disease causing mortality worldwide. Thus, providing novel chemotherapies that tackle breast cancer is of great interest. In this investigation, novel pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives 3,4,(6a-c),(8a,b),9-20 were synthesized and characterized using a variety of spectrum analyses. The geometric and thermal parameters of the novel thiouracil derivatives 3,4,6a,(8a,b),11,12,17,18, 19 were measured using density functional theory (DFT) via DFT/B3LYP/6-31 + G(d,p) basis set. All synthesized compounds were evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide) method using MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancerous cells, compound 17 had the maximum anticancer activity against both breast cancerous cells, recording the lowest half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values (56.712 μg/mL for MCF-7 cells and 48.743 μg/mL for MDA-MB-231 cells). The results were confirmed in terms of the intrinsic mechanism of apoptosis, where compound 17 had the highest percentage in the case of both cancer cells and recorded Bax (Bcl-2 associated X)/Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) ratio 17.5 and 96.667 for MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, while compound 19 came after 17 in the ability for induction of apoptosis, where the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was 15.789 and 44.273 for both cancerous cells, respectively. Also, compound 11 recorded a high Bax/Bcl-2 ratio for both cells. The safety of the synthesized compounds was applied on normal WI-38 cells, showing minimum cytotoxic effect with undetectable IC50. Compounds 17, 11, and 19 recorded a significant increase of p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) expression levels in the cancerous cells. The DFT method was also used to establish a connection between the experimentally determined values of the present investigated compounds and their predicted quantum chemical parameters. It was concluded that Compounds 17, 11, and 19 had anti-breast cancer potential through the induction of apoptotic Bax/Bcl-2 and PUMA expression levels.

Synthesis, Characterization, Antioxidant, and Anticancer Activity against Colon Cancer Cells of Some Cinnamaldehyde-Based Chalcone Derivatives

The purpose of the current investigation was to produce cinammaldehyde-based chalcone derivatives (3a-k) to evaluate their potential effectiveness as antioxidant and inhibitory agents versus human Caco-2 cancer cells. The findings obtained using the DPPH assay showed that compound 3e had the highest effective antioxidant activity with the best IC50 value compared with the other compounds. Moreover, the cytotoxic findings revealed that compound 3e was the best compound for inhibiting Caco-2 development in contrast to all other produced derivatives, with the lowest IC50 concentration (32.19 ± 3.92 µM), and it also had no detrimental effects on healthy human lung cells (wi38 cells). Exposure of Caco-2 cells with this IC50 value of compound 3e resulted in a substantial rise in the number of early and late cells that are apoptotic with a significant comet nucleus when compared with control cells employing the annexin V/PI and comet evaluations, respectively. Furthermore, qRT-PCR and ELISA examinations indicated that compound 3e significantly altered the expression of genes and their relative proteins related to apoptosis in the treated Caco-2 cells, thus significantly inhibiting Caco-2 growth through activating Caspase-3 via an intrinsic apoptotic pathway. As a result, compound 3e could serve as an effective therapy for human colon cancer.

Design, Synthesis and Biological Assessment of N'-(2-Oxoindolin-3-ylidene)-6-methylimidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-5-carbohydrazides as Potential Anti-Proliferative Agents toward MCF-7 Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a serious threat to the health and lives of women. Two novel series of N'-(2-oxoindolin-3-ylidene)-6-methylimidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-5-carbohydrazides and 1-(aryl)-3-(6-methylimidazo[2,1-b]thiazol-5-yl)ureas were designed, synthesized and investigated for their anticancer efficacy against the MCF-7 breast cell line. Three compounds of the first series showed potent activity toward MCF-7 with IC50 in the range 8.38-11.67 µM, respectively, as compared to Sorafenib (IC50 = 7.55 µM). N'-(1-butyl-2-oxoindolin-3-ylidene)-6-methylimidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-5-carbohydrazide inhibited VEGFR-2 with IC50 = 0.33 µM when compared with Sorafenib (IC50 = 0.09 µM). Furthermore, this compound was introduced to PCR assessment, where it increased Bax, caspase 8, caspase 9 and cytochrome C levels by 4.337-, 2.727-, 4.947- and 2.420-fold, respectively, while it decreased levels of Bcl-2, as the anti-apoptotic gene, by 0.359-fold when compared to the untreated control MCF-7. This compound was also arrested in the G2/M phase by 27.07%, compared with 11.31% for the control MCF-7. Furthermore, it induced early and late apoptosis in MCF-7. In addition, a molecular docking study in the VEGFR-2 active site was performed to assess the binding profile for the most active compounds. Moreover, ADME parameters of the targeted compounds were also evaluated.

Functionalization Strategies for Electropolishing Process of Carbon Steel Using Novel Quinazoline-4-one Derivatives: Synthesis, Spectroscopic Characterization, and DFT Studies

A novel class of organic electropolishing (EP) inhibitors, entitled quinazoline-4-one derivatives (benzylidene oxoquinazolineyl acetohydrazide (BOA)), has laid a solid foundation for the creation of a new efficient inhibitor platform for the dissolution of carbon steel (C-steel) in 8 M H3PO4. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), 1H NMR, and elemental analyses have all been employed to identify BOA's functional groups, components, and active centers. The inhibition strength of BOA derivatives (m-NBOA, p-HBOA, and p-BBOA) on C-steel was assured by galvanostatic polarization measurements. Within the range of concentrations (0.33-3.43 × 10-3 mol/L) and temperatures (298-313 K) evaluated, the tested derivatives exhibit extraordinarily high gloss and low roughness, and improved the corrosion resistance of the electropolished surface with the lowest negative environmental impact. The dissolution rate (IL) decreases with increasing BOA concentration, supporting a mass transport-controlled technique and demonstrating that BOA is appropriate for anodic inhibitors. Activation energy indicates physical adsorption. Thermodynamic parameters were calculated for further investigation of the heat involved and the mechanism of the EP process. Adsorption isotherm and adsorption thermodynamics parameters were discussed using three models: Langmuir, Flory-Huggins, and kinetic adsorption isotherms, to study the inhibition of EP of the steel surface. The free energy of adsorption was calculated to assert the physisorption process. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was utilized to inspect the morphology of the metal surface before and after the inclusion of BOA under different conditions. In contrast, the surface roughness was identified using an atomic force microscope (AFM) and reflectance. Eventually, practical results have been proved through computational calculations using the LYP correlation functional by the density functional theory (DFT) method.

Synthesis of New Liquid-Crystalline Compounds Based on Terminal Benzyloxy Group: Characterization, DFT and Mesomorphic Properties

The effect of the terminal benzyloxy group on the mesomorphic properties of liquid crystalline materials developed from rod-like Schiff base has been described. For this objective, a novel Schiff base liquid crystal family, specifically new series of Schiff base liquid crystals, namely, (E)-4-(alkyloxy)-N-(4-(benzyloxy)benzylidene)aniline, I_n, are prepared and investigated in detail. The length of the terminal alkyloxy chain (n) varies amongst the compounds in the series. Where n varies between 6, 8 and 16 carbons. At the other end of the compounds, benzyloxy moiety was attached. The molecular structures of all synthesized compounds were established using different spectroscopic techniques. The molecular self-assembly was explored using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscope (POM). Depending on the length of the terminal alkyloxy chain, only one type of SmA phase with different stability was observed. The previously reported para-substituted systems and the present investigated compounds were compared and discussed. The calculated quantum chemical parameters were computationally correlated using the DFT method via the B3LYP 6-311G(d,p) basis set. The theoretical computations revealed that the length of the alkyl side chain influences the zero-point energy, reactivity and other estimated thermodynamic parameters of benzoyloxy/azomethine derivatives. Furthermore, the FMO energy analysis shows that molecule I₁₆ have higher HOMO energies than the other compounds, and I₆ has a much lower LUMO level than the rest.