Pharmacokinetic profiling of quinazoline-4(3H)-one analogs as EGFR inhibitors: 3D-QSAR modeling, molecular docking studies and the design of therapeutic agents

Objectives

Breast tumor is ranked as the most common tumor type identified among women globally with over 1.7 million cases annually, representing 11.9% of the total number of cancer cases. Approved anti-breast tumor drugs exhibit several side effects and some patients develop resistance during the early treatment stage. This study aimed to use an in-silico approach to identify and design potential therapeutic agents.

Methods

Robust 3D-QSAR models were developed using quinazoline-4(3H)-one analogs as EGFR inhibitors. The best model was then selected based on statistical parameters and was subsequently used to design more potent therapeutic agents. Molecular docking simulation was executed using the data set and the designed compounds to identify lead compounds which were further screened by pharmacokinetic profiling by applying SwissADME and pkCSM software.

Results

Internal validations of the best CoMFA and CoMSIA models (R² = 0.855 and 0.895; Q² = 0.570 and 0.599) passed the threshold values for the establishment of a consistent QSAR model. The constructed models were further validated externally using six compounds as a test set, thus revealing a satisfactory predicted correlation coefficient (R² _pred = 0.657 and 0.681). The CoMSIA_SHE models with the best statistical parameters were further subjected to applicability domain checks and only three influentials were detected. These were then utilized to design five novel compounds with activities ranging from 5.62 to 6.03. Molecular docking studies confirmed that compounds 20 to 26, with docking scores ranging from -163.729 to -169.796, represented lead compounds with higher docking scores compared to Gefitinib (-127.495). Furthermore, the designed compounds exhibited better docking scores ranging from -171.379 to -179.138.

Conclusions

Pharmacological studies identified compounds 20, 24 26 and the designed compounds 2, 3, 5 as feasible drug candidates. However, these theoretical findings should now be validated experimentally.

Molecular Docking and In Silico Cogitation Validate Mefenamic Acid Prodrugs as Human Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitor

In silico molecular docking is an efficient technique for drug design that predicts the optimized orientation of the ligand against a specific drug target. This is a cost-effective and time-saving technique that requires limited manpower. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly prescribed drugs in various prescriptions. The drawbacks with NSAIDs in its long-term usage are gastric irritation, bleeding, and perforation. Prodrug approach is a commonly used method to overcome these side effects. In this study, the reported prodrugs of mefenamic acid were utilized to validate the molecular docking simulation process by comparing obtained in silico results with the reported in vivo results. The molecules were evaluated for their binding affinity against human cyclooxygenase-2 enzyme as well as their pharmacokinetics profile is predicted on the basis of Lipinski's and Veber rule. The in silico result showed high degree similarity with experimental results. This confirms the efficiency and reliability of the molecular docking technique for identification of potential lead compounds.

Drug-likeness prediction of designed analogues of isoniazid standard targeting FabI enzyme regulation from P. falciparum

Fatty acid biosynthesis enzymes (Fab enzyme) are important targets for anti-malarial drug development. The present study describes the toxicity screening of designed novel analogues which inhibit FabI enzyme regulation, a protein with multifunctional property. New analogues were prepared using ChemDraw Ultra 10 Software and converted into 3D PDB structure format for binding studies with FabI (PDB ID: 4IGE). Further Lipinski's rule of FIVE and ADMET profiling for toxicity prediction has been performed on the designed analogues. The result shows that ISN-23 is potential analogue exhibiting inhibition at the active site of FabI enzyme with good binding features.

Synthesis and in vitro and in vivo biological evaluation of substituted nitroquinoxalin-2-ones and 2,3-diones as novel trichomonacidal agents

Two series of ten novel 7-nitroquinoxalin-2-ones and ten 6-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-diones with diverse substituents at positions 1 and 4 were synthesized and evaluated against the sexually transmitted parasite Trichomonas vaginalis. Furthermore, diverse molecular and drug-likeness properties were analyzed to predict the oral bioavailability following the Lipinski's "rule of five". 7-Nitroquinoxalin-2-one derivatives displayed moderate to high in vitro activity while the efficiency of most nitroquinoxaline-2,3-diones was rather low; both kinds of compounds did not show cytotoxic effects in mammalian cells. 7-Nitro-4-(3-piperidinopropyl)quinoxalin-2-one 9 achieved the highest trichomonacidal activity (IC50 = 18.26 μM) and was subsequently assayed in vivo in a murine model of trichomonosis. A 46.13% and a 50.70% reduction of pathogenic injuries were observed in the experimental groups treated orally during 7 days with 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg doses. The results obtained in the biological assays against T. vaginalis indicate that compounds with ω-(dialkylamino)alkyl substituents and a keto group at positions 4 and 2 of quinoxaline ring, respectively, provide interesting structural cores to develop novel prototypes to enhance the nitroquinoxalinones activity as trichomonacidal agents with interesting ADME properties according to virtual screening analysis.

Use of natural molecules as anti-angiogenic inhibitors for vascular endothelial growth factor receptor

Angiogenesis refers to the formation of new blood vessels, controlled by certain chemicals, which on stimulation repairs damaged cells or form new ones. Other chemicals, called angiogenesis inhibitors, signal the process to stop, having only mild side effects and are non toxic to most healthy cells. In our study, attempt was made to find potent anti-angiogenic inhibitor (pazopanib was considered as a reference drug) for vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR-1/FLT-1), which served as a molecular target, using natural agents targeting biological processes important in cancer. Hundreds of natural molecules were initially screened based on lipinski's rule of five and the satisfying ones were taken for receptor-ligand interaction study using docking tools like HEX and quantum. Around fifteen molecules were taken as lead molecule and their binding pocket on VEGF was analyzed using SwissPDBviewer and Q-site finder. The investigational drug pazopanib was found to be interacting with leucine 32 and glutamine 30 in terms of hydrogen bond with the distance of 1.86 and 2.49 A0 respectively. Ames test for the molecules was predicted for probability of mutagenicity on molecular systems such as blood, cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal system; kidney, liver and lung were considered for further screening of the molecules. The natural molecules curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), barrigtozenol and finasteride were showing reliable interaction with VEGFR and their pharmacokinetics parameters were comparatively good than the pazopanib. The dietary product curcumin and EGCG can be cancer chemopreventive agents and the natural molecules barringtozenol and finasteride can be effective inhibitors for VEGFR.