The importance of ARG513 as a hydrogen bond anchor to discover COX-2 inhibitors in a virtual screening campaign

Selective COX-2 inhibitors as anticancer agents: a patent review (2018-2023)

INTRODUCTION

COX-2 is a crucial enzyme in the manufacture of prostaglandins. The enzyme's metabolites might have an important function as regulators of the inflammatory response and other medical conditions such as cancer. Selective COX-2 inhibitors are believed to enhance or reverse the response of cancer chemotherapeutics.

AREAS COVERED

This study addresses the chemical structures as well as the antitumor activity of new COX-2 inhibitors produced in the recent five years, aiming to provide an insight into the mechanism of COX-2 induced PGE2 powerful signal in cancer development.

EXPERT OPINION

The significance of selective COX-2 inhibitors as an efficient superfamily of compounds with anti-inflammatory, anti-Alzheimer's, anti-Parkinson's disease, and anticancer properties has piqued the passion of academics in the field of drug development. Long-term usage of selective COX-2 inhibitors, such as celecoxib has been proven in clinical trials to lower the incidence of several human malignancies. Furthermore, celecoxib has the potential to greatly increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Our extensive understanding of selective COX-2 inhibitor SAR may aid in the development of safer and more effective selective COX-2 inhibitors as cancer chemopreventive agents. This review focuses on the different structural classes of selective COX-2 inhibitors, with a particular emphasis on their SAR.

A new steroid glycoside from Begonia sp.: cytotoxic activity and docking studies

Chemical investigation on the ethyl acetate extract of the aerial parts of Begonia sp. afforded a new steroid glycoside, 9(11)α,16(17)α-dioxirane-20,25-dihydroxy-β-sitosterol-3-O-β-glucopyranoside (1) along with a known steroidal glycoside, β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2). The Chemical structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectroscopic analysis. Cytotoxicity against four different cancer cell lines (HeLa, T47D, WiDr and Vero) was assessed. Compound 1 was more potent and selective against breast cancer cell line (T47D) than other cell lines with an IC₅₀ value of 0.16 µg/mL. Further docking study of 1 exhibited the preference of molecule to bind in the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) binding pockets with docking scores of -97.8800 (PLANTS) and -3.56 kcal/mol (AutoDock 4.2.6).

Structure-based design of eugenol analogs as potential estrogen receptor antagonists

Eugenol is an essential oil mainly found in the buds and leaves of clove (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill and Perry), which has been reported to have activity on inhibition of cell proliferation and apoptosis induction in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. This biological activity is correlated to its activity as an estrogen receptor antagonist. In this article, we present the construction and validation of structure-based virtual screening (SBVS) protocols to identify the potent estrogen receptor α (ER) antagonists. The selected protocol, which gave acceptable enrichment factors as a virtual screening protocol, subsequently used to virtually screen eugenol, its analogs and their dimers. Based on the virtual screening results, dimer eugenol of 4-[4-hydroxy-3-(prop-2-en-1- yl)phenyl]-2-(prop-2-en-1-yl)phenol is recommended to be developed further in order to discover novel and potent ER antagonists.

Virtual screening of 2,3-disubstituted-4(3H)-quinazolinones possessing benzenesulfonamide moiety for COX-2 inhibitor

COX inhibitors which selectively inhibits the inducible COX-2 is an oenzyme that causes inflammation. They are clinically effective anti-inflammatory agents with less gastrointestinal and renal toxicity. However, they lack anti-thrombotic activity and hence lead to increased incidences of adverse cardiovascular trombotic events such as myocardial infarction. Therefore, there is still a need to develop better therapeutic effect and tolerability COX-2 inhibitor. The majority of COX-2 inhibitors are diaryl heterocycles. For optimum COX-2 selectivity and inhibitory potency a -SO(3)CH(3) or a- SO(2)NH(2) substituent at the para-position of phenyl ring was essential. A wide variety of heterocycles can serve as central ring system of the diaryl heterocycles structures. We report the screening of various 2,3-disubstituted-4(3H)-quinazolinones possessing benzenesulfonamide moiety, directly or indirectly bound to the ring system, using the Protein-Ligand ANT System (PLANTS) docking software against the COX-2 enzyme. Various molecular structures of ligands were docked and scored to identify structurally similar ligands to SC-558 (reference ligand) in binding interaction to COX-2 binding site. The results show that 2,3-disubstituted-4(3H)-quinazolinones possess pbenzenesulfonamide moiety at C-2, and phenyl moiety at N-3 binds directly or indirectly to the ring system with high binding affinity. The docked ligand has orientations similar to that observed with SC-558 satisfying Lipinski's rule of five.