Research Article

Molecular Docking Study, Cytotoxicity, Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptotic Induction of Novel Chalcones Incorporating Thiadiazolyl Isoquinoline in Cervical Cancer

Author(s):

Mohamed A. Tantawy, Farid M. Sroor*, Magda F. Mohamed*, Mostafa E. El-Naggar, Fatma M. Saleh, Hamdi M. Hassaneen and Ismail A. Abdelhamid*   Pages 70 - 83 ( 14 )

Abstract:

Background: Chalcones are naturally occurring compounds found in various plant species which are widely used for the traditional popular treatments. Chalcones are distinguished secondary metabolites reported to display diverse biological activities such as antiviral, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antibacterial and antioxidant. The presence of a,ß-unsaturated carbonyl group in chalcones is assumed to be responsible for their bioactivity. In addition, heterocyclic compounds having nitrogen such as isoquinolines are of considerable interest as they constitute the core structural element of many alkaloids that have enormous pharmacological activities.

Objective: The objective of this study is the synthesis and biological activity of novel chalcones incorporating thiadiazolyl isoquinoline as potential anticancer candidates. Different genetic tools were used in an attempt to know the mechanism of action of this compound against breast cancer.

Methods: An efficient one pot synthesis of novel chalcones incorporating thiadiazolyl isoquinoline was developed. The cytotoxic activity of the novel synthesized compounds was performed against four different kinds of cancer cell lines.

Results: Among all the tested derivatives, chalcone 3 has the best cytotoxic profile against A549, MCF7, and HeLa cell lines, with IC_50s values 66.1, 51.3, and 85.1μM, respectively. Molecular docking studies for chalcone 3 revealed that CDK2, and EGFRTK domains have strong binding affinities toward the novel chalcone 3, while tubulin-colchicine-ustiloxin, and VEGFRTK domains illustrated moderate mode of binding.

Conclusion: We have developed an efficient method for the synthesis of novel chalcones incorporating thiadiazolyl isoquinoline. All compounds showed better cytotoxicity results against four kinds of cancer cell lines (A549, MCF7, HCT116, and HELA cells). The results depicted that chalcone 3 has a high and promising cytotoxic effect against HELA cell line and the mechanism of cytotoxicity was widely studied through different theoretical and experimental tools. Thus, the newly synthesized derivative 3 can be utilized as a novel chemotherapeutic compound for cervical carcinoma.

Keywords:

Chalcones, synthesis, cervical cancer, molecular docking, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, DNA fragmentation, ELISA.

Affiliation:

Hormones Department, Medical Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, 12622, Organometallic and Organometalloid Chemistry Department, National Research Centre, 12622 Cairo, Department of Chemistry (Biochemistry Branch), Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sadat City, Menoufia, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, 12613

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