Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel pyrazolochalcones as potential modulators of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and inducers of apoptosis in breast cancer cells

Cancer has been established as the "Emperor of all maladies". In recent years, medicinal chemistry has focused on identifying novel anti-cancer compounds; though discovery of these compounds appears to be a herculean task. In present study, we synthesized forty pyrazolochalcone conjugates and explored their cytotoxic activity against a panel of sixty cancer cell lines. Fifteen conjugates of the series showed excellent growth inhibition (13b-e, 13h-j, 14c-d, 15 a, 15 c-d, 16b, 16d and 18f; GI₅₀ for MCF-7: 0.4-20 μM). Conjugates 13b, 13c, 13d, 16b and 14d were also evaluated for their cytotoxic activity in human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). The promising candidates induced cell cycle arrest, mitochondrial membrane depolarization and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells at a 2 μM concentration. Furthermore, inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway-regulators such as PI3K, p-PI3K, p-AKT, and mTOR were observed; as well as upregulation of p-GSK3β and tumor-suppressor protein, PTEN. Our study indicates that pyrazolochalcone conjugates could serve as potential leads in the development of tailored cancer therapeutics.

Synthesis of new pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives and evaluation of their anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities

This study reports the synthesis of two series of new purine bioisosteres comprising a pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine scaffold linked to piperazine moiety through different amide linkages. The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for anticancer activity against four cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, SF-268, B16F-10) and cyclooxygenase (COX-2) protein expression inhibition in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated rat monocytes. The results revealed that most of the synthesized compounds showed moderate-to-high cytotoxic activity against at least one cell line, with compound 10b being the most active against all used cell lines (IC₅₀ values 5.5-11 μg/ml) comparable to cisplatin. In addition, six of these compounds (7b, 10a-d, and 12c) demonstrated inhibition of LPS-induced COX-2 protein expression at low concentration (25 μg/ml) as compared to the control non-stimulated cells and showed a COX-2 selectivity index range comparable to diclofenac sodium. The overall results indicate that many of these pyrazolopyrimidine derivatives possess in vitro anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities at varying doses, and the most active compounds will be subjected to in vivo pharmacological evaluation.

Recent developments in chemical reactivity of N,N-dimethylenamino ketones as synthons for various heterocycles

This review demonstrates the high number of synthetic applications of enaminones in the preparation of acyclic, carbocyclic, heterocyclic and fused heterocyclic compounds.