Design, synthesis, molecular modeling, and biological evaluations of novel chalcone based 4-Nitroacetophenone derivatives as potent anticancer agents targeting EGFR-TKD

• Published in: Journal of biomolecular structure & dynamics pp. 1 - 16
• Main Authors: Mir, Showkat Ahmad, Murmu, Narayan, Meher, Rajesh Kumar, Baitharu, Iswar, Nayak, Binata, Khan, Andleeb, Khan, Mohammad Imran, Abdulaal, Wesam H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 28.01.2024
• Subjects: molecular dynamics simulations; MM-PBSA; flow cytometry; Synthesis; molecular docking simulations; cytotoxicity
• ISSN: 0739-1102; 1538-0254
• DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2024.2301746

A series of chalcone-based 4-Nitroacetophenone derivatives were designed and synthesized by the single-step condensation method. These compounds were identified by H NMR, C NMR, MS, and FTIR analysis. Further, the derivatives were evaluated against four cancer cell lines H1299, MCF-7, HepG2, and K526. The IC value of potent compounds NCH-2, NCH-4, NCH-5, NCH-6, NCH-8, and NCH-10 was 4.5-11.4 μM in H1299, 4.3-15.7 μM in MCF-7, 2.7-4.1 μM in HepG2 and 4.9-19.7 μM in K562. To assess the toxicity against healthy cells all potent molecules were evaluated against the HEK-293T cell line, and IC values exhibited by NCH-2, and NCH-3 were 77.8, 74.3, and other molecules showed IC values > 100 μM. The EGFR expression was determined by using rabbit anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody and significant EGFR expression was knocked down observed in H1299 treated with NCH-10 as well as erlotinib. The underlying mechanism behind cell death was investigated through bioinformatics. First, the molecules were optimized and docked to the binding site of the EGFR kinase domain. The best complexes were simulated for 100-ns and compounds NCH-2, NCH-4, and NCH-10 achieved stability similar to the erlotinib bound kinase domain. The free energy binding (Δ ) of NCH-10 was found to be more negative -226.616 ± 2.148 kJ/mol calculated by Molecular Mechanics Poisson Boltzmann's Surface Area (MM-PBSA) method. Both and results conclude that the present class of chalcone-based 4-Nitroacetophenone derivatives are potent anti-cancer agents targeting EGFR-TKD and are 39 folds more effective against H1299, MCF-7, HepG2, and K562 carcinoma cell lines than healthy HEK-293T cell lines.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.