Allawi MM, Mahmood AAR, Tahtamouni LH, AlSakhen MF, Kanaan SI, Saleh KM, Yasin SR. New Indole-6-Carboxylic Acid Derivatives as Multi-Target Antiproliferative Agents: Synthesis, in Silico Studies, and Cytotoxicity Evaluation.
Chem Biodivers 2024;
21:e202301892. [PMID:
38145305 DOI:
10.1002/cbdv.202301892]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Abstract
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) are commonly overexpressed in cancers making them appealing targets for cancer therapeutics. Two groups of indole-6-carboxylic acid derivatives, hydrazone derivatives targeting EGFR and oxadiazole derivatives targeting VEGFR-2, were synthesized and characterized using FT-IR, 1 H-NMR, 13 CNMR, and HR-MS techniques. Binding patterns to potential molecular targets were studied using molecular docking and compared to standard EGFR and VEGFR-2 inhibitors. The newly synthesized compounds were cytotoxic to the three cancer cell lines tested (HCT-116, HeLa, and HT-29 cell lines) as evaluated by the MTT assay. Compound 3 b (EGFR-targeting) and compound 6 e (VEGFR-2-targeting) possessed the highest antiproliferation activity, were cancer-selective, arrested cancer cells in the G2/M phase, induced the extrinsic apoptosis pathway, and had the highest EGFR/VEGFR-2 enzyme inhibitory activity, respectively. The structure-activity relationships of the new compounds showed that the presence of an aryl or heteroaryl fragment attached to a linker is required for the anti-tumor activity. In conclusion, the findings of the current study suggest that compounds 3 b and 6 e are promising cytotoxic agents that act by inhibiting EGFR and VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinases, respectively.
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