Novel 3-Substituted-2H-Chromene Scaffold Based Fluorinated Hydrophobic Fragment as In-Vitro Antiproliferative Agents and Apoptosis Inducers Targeting Both VEGFR-2/BRAFV600E and h-DHFR With Molecular Docking Simulation
Mohamed A. Salem, Moustafa S. Abusaif, Nirvana A. Gohar, Yousry A. Ammar, Ahmed Ragab
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the use of protein kinase inhibitors as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer. In this study, a new series of 2H-chromene derivatives (2-5 and 6-8) and 3H-benzo[f]chromene carbohydrazide derivative (9) were synthesized. The structure of the designed derivatives was characterized by IR, 1H/13C NMR, and elemental analysis. Moreover, the cytotoxic activity of the newly synthesized chromenes was evaluated against breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) and a cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). The results of these evaluations demonstrated promising activity, ranging from good to moderate. Additionally, the lung fibroblast cell line (WI-38), as a normal cell line, was also utilized to assess the active derivatives' selectivity. Among the compounds tested, chromene derivative 3 demonstrated the highest potency, exhibiting IC50 values of 5.36 ± 0.50, 7.82 ± 0.60, and 9.28 ± 0.70 µM against the MDA-MB 231, MCF-7, and HeLa cell lines, respectively. The potential of chromone 3 as a multi-targeted anticancer agent was assessed by evaluating its activity against BRAF and VEGFR-2. Notably, the most promising chromene derivative 3 demonstrated significant VEGFR2 activity with an IC50 value of 0.224 µM compared to sorafenib's 0.045 µM, while exhibiting inhibitory activity against BRAF with an IC50 value of 1.695 µM relative to Vemurafenib's IC50 value of 0.468 µM. In addition, compound 3 inhibits the DHFR enzyme with an IC50 value of 2.217 ± 0.014 µM, compared to methotrexate (IC50 = 0.4315 ± 0.019 µM). These results revealed that the compound has multifaceted mechanisms of action that may augment its therapeutic effectiveness. In addition, compound 3 causes overexpression of caspase-3 and Bax by 6.13 and 8.85-fold, respectively. It also downregulates the antiapoptotic Bcl-2 level by 0.4775-fold compared to the untreated MDA-MB 231 cells. Flow cytometry analysis of MDA-MB-231 cells indicates that compound 3 induces cell cycle arrest in the G0-G1 phase, with an observed percentage of 73.15%. The in-silico toxicity prediction was evaluated and demonstrated a good toxicity profile. Finally, molecular docking studies supported these findings by confirming strong binding affinities of the derivatives to VEGFR-2, BRAF, and DHFR.
期刊介绍:
Drug Development Research focuses on research topics related to the discovery and development of new therapeutic entities. The journal publishes original research articles on medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals, toxicology, and drug delivery, formulation, and pharmacokinetics. The journal welcomes manuscripts on new compounds and technologies in all areas focused on human therapeutics, as well as global management, health care policy, and regulatory issues involving the drug discovery and development process. In addition to full-length articles, Drug Development Research publishes Brief Reports on important and timely new research findings, as well as in-depth review articles. The journal also features periodic special thematic issues devoted to specific compound classes, new technologies, and broad aspects of drug discovery and development.