Design, synthesis and 3D QSAR based pharmacophore study of novel imatinib analogs as antitumor-apoptotic agents

Antimicrobial activities of metabolites isolated from endophytic Aspergillus flavus of Sarcophyton ehrenbergi supported by in-silico study and NMR spectroscopy

BACKGROUND

Endophytic Aspergillus species produce countless valuable bioactive secondary metabolites. In the current study, Aspergillus flavus an endophyte from the soft coral Sarcophyton ehrenbergi was chemically explored and the extracted phytoconstituents were subsequently evaluated for antimicrobial activity. This is accomplished by employing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and computational techniques. Additionally, An in vitro anticancer analysis of A. flavus total extract against breast cancer cells (MCF-7) was investigated.

RESULT

Six compounds were separated from the crude alcohol extract of the endophytic Aspergillus flavus out of which anhydro-mevalonolactone was reported for the first time. The anti-fungal and anti-Helicobacter pylori properties of two distinct compounds (Scopularides A and B) were assessed. Additionally, computational research was done to identify the binding mechanisms for all compounds. Both the compounds were found to be active against H. pylori with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 7.81 to 15.63 µg/ mL as compared with clarithromycin 1.95 µg/ mL. Scopularides A was potent against both Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger with MIC values ranging from 3.9 to 31.25 µg/ mL, while scopularides B only inhibits Candida albicans with MIC value of 15.63 µg/ mL and weak inhibitory activity against A. niger (MIC = 125 µg/ mL). Furthermore, cytotoxic activity showed a significant effect (IC50: 30.46 mg/mL) against MCF-7 cells.

CONCLUSION

Our findings report that cytotoxic activity and molecular docking support the antimicrobial activity of Aspergillus flavus, which could be a promising alternative source as a potential antimicrobial agent.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and in silico studies of new CDK2 inhibitors based on pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine scaffold with apoptotic activity

Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibition is considered a promising target for cancer treatment for its crucial role in cell cycle regulation. Pyrazolo pyrimidine derivatives were well established for their antitumor activity via CDK2 inhibition. In this research, new series of pyrazolopyrimidine derivatives (4-15) was designed and synthesised as novel CDK2 inhibitors. The anti-proliferative activities against MCF-7, HCT-116, and HepG-2 were used to evaluate their anticancer activity as novel CDK2 inhibitors. Most of the compounds showed superior cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and HCT-116 compared to Sorafenib. Only compounds 8, 14, and 15 showed potent activity against HepG-2. The CDK2/cyclin A2 enzyme inhibitory activity was tested for all synthesised compounds. Compound 15 showed the most significant inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ 0.061 ± 0.003 µM. It exerted remarkable alteration in Pre G1 and S phase cell cycle progression and caused apoptosis in HCT cells. In addition, the normal cell line cytotoxicity for compound 15 was assigned revealing low cytotoxic results in normal cells rather than cancer cells. Molecular docking was achieved on the designed compounds and confirmed the two essential hydrogen binding with Leu83 in CDK2 active site. In silico ADMET studies and drug-likeness showed proper pharmacokinetic properties which helped in structure requirements prediction for the observed antitumor activity.

New Imatinib Derivatives with Antiproliferative Activity against A549 and K562 Cancer Cells

Tyrosine kinase enzymes are among the primary molecular targets for the treatment of some human neoplasms, such as those in lung cancer and chronic myeloid leukemia. Mutations in the enzyme domain can cause resistance and new inhibitors capable of circumventing these mutations are highly desired. The objective of this work was to synthesize and evaluate the antiproliferative ability of ten new analogs that contain isatins and the phenylamino-pyrimidine pyridine (PAPP) skeleton, the main pharmacophore group of imatinib. The 1,2,3-triazole core was used as a spacer in the derivatives through a click chemistry reaction and gave good yields. All the analogs were tested against A549 and K562 cells, lung cancer and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell lines, respectively. In A549 cells, the 3,3-difluorinated compound (3a), the 5-chloro-3,3-difluorinated compound (3c) and the 5-bromo-3,3-difluorinated compound (3d) showed IC₅₀ values of 7.2, 6.4, and 7.3 μM, respectively, and were all more potent than imatinib (IC₅₀ of 65.4 μM). In K562 cells, the 3,3-difluoro-5-methylated compound (3b) decreased cell viability to 57.5% and, at 10 µM, showed an IC₅₀ value of 35.8 μM (imatinib, IC₅₀ = 0.08 μM). The results suggest that 3a, 3c, and 3d can be used as prototypes for the development of more potent and selective derivatives against lung cancer.

E Shahin M, Elsakka EGE, Mokhtar MM, Hegazy M, Hagras M, Mandour AA, Ismail NSM. Discovery of pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine derivatives as novel CDK2 inhibitors: synthesis, biological and molecular modeling investigations

CDK2 inhibition is an appealing target for cancer treatment that targets tumor cells in a selective manner. A new set of small molecules featuring the privileged pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine scaffolds (4–13) as well as the thioglycoside derivatives (14, 15) were designed, and synthesized as novel CDK2 targeting compounds. The growth of the three examined cell lines was significantly inhibited by most of the prepared compounds. Results revealed that most of the compounds showed superior cytotoxic activities against MCF-7 and HCT-116 with IC₅₀ range (45–97 nM) and (6–99 nM), respectively, and moderate activity against HepG-2 with IC₅₀ range of (48–90 nM) compared to sorafenib (IC₅₀: 144, 176 and 19 nM, respectively). Of these compounds, 14 & 15 showed the best cytotoxic activities against the three cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 45, 6, and 48 nM and 46, 7, and 48 nM against MCF-7, HCT-116 and HepG-2, respectively. Enzymatic inhibitory activity against CDK2/cyclin A2 was achieved for the most potent anti-proliferative compounds. Compounds 14, 13 and 15 revealed the most significant inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 0.057 ± 0.003, 0.081 ± 0.004 and 0.119 ± 0.007 μM, respectively compared to sorafenib (0.184 ± 0.01 μM). Compound 14 displayed potent dual activity against the examined cell lines and CDK2, and was thus selected for further investigations. It exerted a significance alteration in cell cycle progression, in addition to apoptosis induction within HCT cells. Molecular docking simulation of the designed compounds confirmed the good fit into the CDK2 active site through the essential hydrogen bonding with Leu83. In silico ADMET studies and drug-likeness studies using a Boiled Egg chart showed suitable pharmacokinetic properties which helped in structure requirement prediction for the observed antitumor activity.

A new set of pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine scaffolds (4–13) as well as the thioglycoside derivatives (14, 15) were designed, and synthesized as novel CDK2 targeting compounds.

Design and Synthesis of New CDK2 Inhibitors Containing Thiazolone and Thiazolthione Scafold with Apoptotic Activity

Cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) inhibition is a well-established strategy for treating cancer. Different series of novel thiazolone (1, 7-9) together with fused thiazolthione (2-6, and 10) derivatives were designed, then synthesized and evaluated for their biological inhibitory activity against CDK2. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of the new compounds was explored against breast and colon cancer cell lines. The novel thiazolone and the fused thiazolthione derivatives exhibited potent CDK2/cyclin A2 inhibitory effect of an IC₅₀ values ranging 105.39-742.78 nM. Amongst them compounds 4 and 6 revealed highest IC₅₀ of 105.39 and 139.27 nM, respectively. Most compounds showed significant inhibition on both breast cancer and colon cancer cell lines with IC₅₀ range 0.54-5.26 and 0.83-278 µM, respectively. Further investigations involved flow cytometry analysis on MCF-7 cancer cell line for compounds 5 and 7 which resulted in arrest cell-cycle at two phases Pre G1/G2-M and re-enforced apoptosis via activation of caspase-7. Molecular modeling simulation of the designed compounds revealed that they were well fitted into CDK2 active site and their complexes were stabilized through the essential hydrogen bonding. Three dimensional quantitative structure activity relationship (3D QSAR) pharmacophore, and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) studies were also carried out showing proper pharmacokinetic and drug-likeness which aided in the prediction of the structure requirements responsible for the observed antitumor activity.