Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel flavonoid derivatives as dual binding acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

A new series of flavonoid derivatives have been designed, synthesised and evaluated as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors that could bind simultaneously to the peripheral and catalytic sites of the enzyme. Among them, fifteen derivatives were found to inhibit the enzyme in the micromolar range and isoflavone derivatives possessed more potent inhibitory activity than other flavonoid derivatives. The best compound 9a had its inhibitory activity (IC(50) = 0.093 microM) in the same range as the reference compound, donepezil (IC(50) = 0.025 microM). Preliminary structure-activity relationships and a molecular modeling study for 9a have revealed that the isoflavone moiety plays a key role in the interaction of this series of derivatives with AChE by acting as an anchor in its peripheral anionic site.     

Synthesis of chiral pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazine sulfonamides with tyrosinase and urease inhibitory activity

A new series of sulfonamide derivatives of pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazine with chiral amino group has been synthesized and characterized. The compounds were tested for their tyrosinase and urease inhibitory activity. Evaluation of prepared derivatives demonstrated that compounds (8b) and (8j) are most potent mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors whereas all of the obtained compounds showed higher urease inhibitory activity than the standard thiourea. The compounds (8a), (8f) and (8i) exhibited excellent enzyme inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ 0.037, 0.044 and 0.042?μM, respectively, while IC₅₀ of thiourea is 20.9?μM.     

Synthesis of a novel series of L-isoserine derivatives as aminopeptidase N inhibitors

A series of novel L-isoserine derivatives were synthesised and evaluated for their ability to inhibit aminopeptidase N (APN)/CD13. In our preliminary biological results, some of these compounds possessed a potent inhibitory activity against the APN. Within this series, compound 14b not only showed similar enzyme inhibition (IC₅₀ of 12.2?μM) compared with the positive control bestatin (half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 7.3?μM), but also had a potent antiproliferative activity against human cancer cell lines cells.     

Structure–activity relationship investigation of benzamide and picolinamide derivatives containing dimethylamine side chain as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

A series of benzamide and picolinamide derivatives containing dimethylamine side chain (4a–4c and 7a–7i) were synthesised and evaluated for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activity in vitro. Structure–activity relationship investigation revealed that the substituted position of dimethylamine side chain markedly influenced the inhibitory activity and selectivity against AChE and BChE. In addition, it seemed that the bioactivity of picolinamide amide derivatives was stronger than that of benzamide derivatives. Among them, compound 7a revealed the most potent AChE inhibitory activity (IC₅₀: 2.49?±?0.19?μM) and the highest selectivity against AChE over BChE (Ratio: 99.40). Enzyme kinetic study indicated that compound 7a show a mixed-type inhibition against AChE. The molecular docking study revealed that this compound can bind with both the catalytic site and the peripheral site of AChE.     

Synthesis, in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and docking studies of novel chromone-isatin derivatives

A novel series of chromone-isatin derivatives 6a–6p were designed, synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and HRMS. These novel synthetic compounds were evaluated for inhibitory activity against yeast α-glucosidase enzyme. The results of biological test have shown that all tested compounds exhibited excellent to potent inhibitory activity in the range of IC₅₀?=?3.18?±?0.12–16.59?±?0.17?μM as compared to the standard drug acarbose (IC₅₀?=?817.38?±?6.27?μM). Compound 6j (IC₅₀?=?3.18?±?0.12?μM) with a hydroxyl group at the 7-position of chromone and a 4-bromobenzyl group at the N1-positions of isatin, was found to be the most active compound among the series. Furthermore, molecular docking study was performed to help understand binding interactions of the most active analogs with α-glucosidase enzyme. These results indicated that this class of compounds had potential for the development of anti-diabetic agents.     

Synthesis and molecular docking studies of some 4-phthalimidobenzenesulfonamide derivatives as acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors

A series of 4-phthalimidobenzenesulfonamide derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for the inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). Structures of the title compounds were confirmed by spectral and elemental analyses. The cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitory activity studies were carried out using Ellman’s colorimetric method. The biological activity results revealed that all of the title compounds (except for compound 8) displayed high selectivity against AChE. Among the tested compounds, compound 7 was found to be the most potent against AChE (IC₅₀=?1.35?±?0.08?μM), while compound 3 exhibited the highest inhibition against BuChE (IC₅₀=?13.41?±?0.62?μM). Molecular docking studies of the most active compound 7 in AChE showed that this compound can interact with both the catalytic active site (CAS) and the peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE.     

Synthesis,biological evaluation,and molecular modelling of new naphthalene-chalcone derivatives as potential anticancer agents on MCF-7 breast cancer cells by targeting tubulin colchicine binding site

Abstract

A series of naphthalene-chalcone derivatives (3a–3t) were prepared and evaluated as tubulin polymerisation inhibitor for the treatment of breast cancer. All compounds were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity against MCF-7 cell line. The most of compounds displayed potent antiproliferative activity. Among them, compound 3a displayed the most potent antiproliferative activity with an IC₅₀ value of 1.42?±?0.15?µM, as compared to cisplatin (IC₅₀?=?15.24?±?1.27?µM). Additionally, the promising compound 3a demonstrated relatively lower cytotoxicity on normal cell line (HEK293) compared to tumour cell line. Furthermore, compound 3a was found to induce significant cell cycle arrest at the G₂/M phase and cell apoptosis. Compound 3a displayed potent tubulin polymerisation inhibitory activity with an IC₅₀ value of 8.4?µM, which was slightly more active than the reference compound colchicine (IC₅₀?=?10.6?µM). Molecular docking analysis suggested that 3a interact and bind at the colchicine binding site of the tubulin.     

Design,synthesis and evaluation of novel 7-aminoalkyl-substituted flavonoid derivatives with improved cholinesterase inhibitory activities

A novel series of 7-aminoalkyl-substituted flavonoid derivatives 5a–5r were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential cholinesterase inhibitors. The results showed that most of the synthesized compounds exhibited potent acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activities at the micromolar range. Compound 2-(naphthalen-1-yl)-7-(8-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)octyloxy)-4H-chromen-4-one (5q) showed the best inhibitory activity (IC₅₀, 0.64 μM for AChE and 0.42 μM for BChE) which were better than our previously reported compounds and the commercially available cholinergic agent Rivastigmine. The results from a Lineweaver–Burk plot indicated a mixed-type inhibition for compound 5q with AChE and BChE. Furthermore, molecular modeling study showed that 5q targeted both the catalytic active site (CAS) and the peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE. Besides, these compounds (5a–5r) did not affect PC12 and HepG2 cell viability at the concentration of 10 μM. Consequently, these flavonoid derivatives should be further investigated as multipotent agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.     

Novel nalidixic acid derivatives targeting topoisomerase II enzyme; Design,synthesis, anticancer activity and effect on cell cycle profile

AimDesign and synthesis of novel nalidixic acid derivatives of potent anticancer and topoisomerase II inhibitory activities were our major aim.Materials & methodsAll the newly synthesized nalidixic acid derivatives were submitted to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, USA and were accepted for single dose screening. Further investigation via IC₅₀ determination of the most potent compound 6a against K-562 and SR leukemia cell lines. Finally, the topoisomerase II inhibitory activity, the cell cycle analysis and molecular docking of 6a were performed in order to identify the possible mechanism of the anticancer activity.ResultsCompound 6a showed interesting selectivity against leukemia especially K-562 and SR subpanels with IC₅₀ 35.29 µM and 13.85 µM respectively. Moreover, compound 6a revealed potent topoisomerase IIα and topoisomerase IIβ inhibitory activity compared with known topoisomerase inhibitors such as doxorubicin and topotecan with IC₅₀ 1.30 µM and 0.017 µM respectively. Cell cycle analysis indicated that compound 6a induced cell cycle arrest at G2-M phase leading to inhibition of cell proliferation and apoptosis. Molecular modeling demonstrated that the potent topoisomerase inhibitory activity of 6a was due to the interaction with the topoisomerase II enzyme through coordinate bonding with the magnesium ion Mg²⁺, hydrogen bonding with Asp 545 and arene cation interaction with His 759.     

Design,molecular docking and synthesis of novel 5,6-dichloro-2-methyl-1H-benzimidazole derivatives as potential urease enzyme inhibitors

A novel series of 5,6-dichloro-2-methyl-1H-benzimidazole derivatives was synthesized and then screened for their urease inhibitory activity. All compounds showed more potent inhibitory activity in the range of IC₅₀ = 0.0294 ± 0.0015–0.1494 ± 0.0041 µM than thiourea (IC₅₀ = 0.5117 ± 0.0159 µM), as a reference inhibitor. Among all the tested compounds, the compound 15 (IC₅₀ = 0.0294 ± 0.0015 µM) having strong electron-withdrawing nitro group on the phenyl ring was recorded as the most potent inhibitor of urease. All compounds were docked at the active sites of the Jack bean urease enzyme to investigate the reason of the inhibitory activity and the possible binding interactions of enzyme-ligand complexes.     

Design,synthesis and evaluation of novel 4-dimethylamine flavonoid derivatives as potential multi-functional anti-Alzheimer agents

A series of 4-dimethylamine flavonoid derivatives 5a–5r were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential multi-functional anti-Alzheimer agents. The results showed that most of the synthesized compounds exhibited high acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activity at the micromolar range (IC₅₀, 1.83–33.20 μM for AChE and 0.82–11.45 μM for BChE). A Lineweaver–Burk plot indicated a mixed-type inhibition for compound 5j with AChE, and molecular modeling study showed that 5j targeted both the catalytic active site (CAS) and the peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE. Besides, the derivatives showed potent self-induced Aβ aggregation inhibitory activity at 20 μM with percentage from 25% to 48%. In addition, some compounds (5j–5q) showed potent oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) ranging from 1.5- to 2.6-fold of the Trolox value. These compounds should be further investigated as multi-potent agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.     

Discovery of novel isoflavone derivatives as AChE/BuChE dual-targeted inhibitors: synthesis,biological evaluation and molecular modelling

AChE and BuChE are druggable targets for the discovery of anti-Alzheimer’s disease drugs, while dual-inhibition of these two targets seems to be more effective. In this study, we synthesised a series of novel isoflavone derivatives based on our hit compound G from in silico high-throughput screening and then tested their activities by in vitro AChE and BuChE bioassays. Most of the isoflavone derivatives displayed moderate inhibition against both AChE and BuChE. Among them, compound 16 was identified as a potent AChE/BuChE dual-targeted inhibitor (IC₅₀: 4.60?μM for AChE; 5.92?μM for BuChE). Molecular modelling study indicated compound 16 may possess better pharmacokinetic properties, e.g. absorption, blood–brain barrier penetration and CYP2D6 binding. Taken together, our study has identified compound 16 as an excellent lead compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.     

Cancer stem cells CD133 inhibition and cytotoxicity of certain 3-phenylthiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazoles: design,direct synthesis,crystal study and in vitro biological evaluation

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been objects of intensive study since their identification in 1994. Adopting a structural rigidification approach, a novel series of 3-phenylthiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazoles 4a–d was designed and synthesised, in an attempt to develop potent anticancer agent that can target the bulk of tumour cells and CSCs. The anti-proliferative activity of the synthesised compounds was evaluated against two cell lines, namely; colon cancer HT-29 and triple negative breast cancer MDA-MB-468 cell lines. Also, their inhibitory activity against the cell surface expression of CD133 was examined. In particular, compound 4b emerged as a promising hit molecule as it manifested good antineoplastic potency against both tested cell lines (IC₅₀?=?9 and 12?μM, respectively), beside its ability to inhibit the cell surface expression of CD133 by 50% suggesting a promising potential of effectively controlling the tumour by eradicating the tumour bulk and inhibiting the proliferation of the CSCs. Moreover, compounds 4a and 4c showed moderate activity against HT-29 (IC₅₀?=?21 and 29?μM, respectively) and MDA-MB-468 (IC₅₀?=?23 and 24?μM, respectively) cell lines, while they inhibited the CD133 expression by 14% and 48%, respectively. Finally, a single crystal X-ray diffraction was recorded for compound 4d.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 3-substituted pyrazolopyrimidine derivatives as potent Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors

A series of 3-substituted pyrazolopyrimidine derivatives as BTK inhibitors were designed by structure-based drug design and they were synthesized, evaluated by enzyme-based assay and anti-proliferation against Ramos and Raji cells. Most of them displayed good inhibitory activities against both BTK and B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia lines in vitro. Among them, compound 8a exhibited excellent potency (IC₅₀?=?7.95?nM against BTK enzyme, 8.91?μM against Ramos cells and 1.80?μM against Raji cells), with a better hydrophilicity (ClogP?=?3.33). These explorations provided new clues to discover 3-substituted pyrazolopyrimidine derivatives as novel anti-tumor agents.     

Design and synthesis of novel dasatinib derivatives as inhibitors of leukemia stem cells

We used the concept of bioisosteres to design and synthesize a novel series of dasatinib derivatives for the treatment of leukemia. Unfortunately, most of the dasatinib derivatives did not show appreciable inhibition against leukemia cell lines K562 and HL60. However, acrylamide compound 2c had comparable inhibitory activity with dasatinib against K562 cells (IC₅₀?=?0.039?nM vs. 0.069?nM). And amide compound 2a and acrylamide compound 2c also had comparable inhibitory activity with dasatinib against the leukemia cell line HL60 (IC₅₀?=?0.25?nM and 0.26?nM vs. 0.11?nM). Against the leukemia progenitor cell line KG1a, triazole compounds 15a and 15d–15f and oxadiazole compounds 24a–24d were more potent than dasatinib. In particular, the hydroxyl compounds 15a and 24a were about 64 and 180 fold more potent than dasatinib against KG1a cells (IC₅₀?=?0.14?μM and 0.05?μM vs. 8.98?μM). Compounds 15a and 24a also inhibited colony formation in MCF-7 cells and inhibited cell migration in the cell wound scratch assay in B16BL6 cells. Moreover, hydroxyl compounds 15a and 24a had low toxicity in vivo.     

Design,synthesis and anti-Alzheimer's disease activity study of xanthone derivatives based on multi-target strategy

A series of xanthone derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as multifunctional ligands against Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In vitro studies showed all xanthone derivatives had good metal chelating property and exhibited selective inhibitory activity against Acetylcholinesterase (AChE). In particular, compound 2a showed the highest inhibitory activity against AChE, and the IC₅₀ value was (0.328 ± 0.001) μM, which was comparable to tacrine. Kinetic analysis and molecular docking studies indicated that these derivatives targeted both the catalytically active site (CAS) and the peripheral anion site (PAS) of AChE. Moreover, all derivatives showed higher anti-oxidative activity than vitamin C. Furthermore, copper complex had higher anti-AChE activity and antioxidant activity. Thus, these xanthone derivatives are potential multi-targeted-directed ligands for further development for the treatment of AD.     

Discovery of 4-functionalized phenyl-O-β-d-glycosides as a new class of mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors

A series of 4-functionalized phenyl-O-β-d-glycosides were designed, synthesized and evaluated as a new class of mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors. The results demonstrated that compounds 6a–13a bearing a thiosemicarbazide moiety exhibited potent activities with IC₅₀ values range from 0.31 to 52.8 μM. Particularly, compound 9a containing acetylated glucose moiety was found to be the most active molecule with an IC₅₀ value of 0.31 μM. SARs analysis suggested that (1) the thiosemicarbazide moiety remarkably contributed to the increase of inhibitory effects on tyrosinase; (2) the configuration and bond type of sugar moiety also played a very important role in determining their inhibitory activities. The inhibition kinetics and inhibition mechanism study revealed that compound 9a was reversible and competitive type inhibitor, whereas compound 13a was reversible and competitive–uncompetitive mixed-II type inhibitor.     

Benzofuran- and furan-2-yl-(phenyl)-3-pyridylmethanols: Synthesis and inhibition of P450 aromatase

A series of benzofuran-2-yl-(phenyl)-3-pyridylmethanol derivatives were prepared using an efficient 1-step procedure in good yields. In addition furan-2-yl-(phenyl)-3-pyridylmethanol derivatives were also prepared to determine the effect of the benzene ring in benzofuran with respect to inhibitory activity. The pyridylmethanol derivatives were all evaluated in vitro for inhibitory activity against aromatase (P450_AROM, CYP19), using human placental microsomes. The benzofuran-2-yl-(phenyl)-3-pyridylmethanol derivatives showed good to moderate activity (IC₅₀=1.3–25.1?μM), which was either better than or comparable with aminoglutethimide (IC₅₀=18.5?μM) but lower than arimidex (IC₅₀=0.6?μM), with the 4-methoxyphenyl substituted derivative displaying optimum activity. Molecular modelling of the benzofuran-2-yl-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-pyridylmethanol derivative suggested activity to reside with the (S)-enantiomer. The furan-2-yl-(phenyl)-3-pyridylmethanol derivatives were devoid of activity indicating the essential role of the benzene ring of the benzofuran component for enzyme binding.     

Synthesis of new isoxazoline derivatives from harmine and evaluation of their anti-Alzheimer,anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities

Abstract

In our study, a series of new harmine derivatives has been prepared by cycloaddition reaction using various arylnitrile oxides and evaluated in vitro against acetylcholinesterase and 5-lipoxygenase enzymes, MCF7 and HCT116 cancer cell lines. Some of these molecules have been shown to be potent inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase and MCF7 cell line. The greatest activity against acetylcholinesterase (IC₅₀?=?10.4?µM) was obtained for harmine 1 and cytotoxic activities (IC₅₀?=?0.2?µM) for compound 3a. Two derivatives 3e and 3f with the thiophene and furan systems, respectively, showed good activity against 5- lipoxygenase enzyme (IC₅₀?=?29.2 and 55.5?µM, respectively).     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of anthranilamide derivatives as potent SMO inhibitors

A series of anthranilamide derivatives were designed and synthesized as novel smoothened (SMO) inhibitors based on the SMO inhibitor taladegib (LY2940680), which can also inhibit the SMO-D473H mutant, via a ring-opening strategy. The phthalazine core in LY2940680 was replaced with anthranilamide, which retained the inhibitory activity towards the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway as evidenced by a dual luciferase reporter gene assay. Compound 12a displayed the best inhibitory activity against the Hh signaling pathway with IC₅₀ value of 34.09 nM, and exhibited better proliferation inhibitory activity towards the Daoy cell line (IC₅₀ = 0.48 μM) than LY2940680 (IC₅₀ = 0.79 μM).