Design, Synthesis and Apoptosis Inducing Activity of Nonsteroidal Flavone-Methanesulfonate Derivatives on Mcf-7 Cell Line As Potential Sulfatase Inhibitor Publisher



Javadi MHS¹ ; Iraji A^{2, 3} ; Safavi M⁴ ; Montazeri H⁵ ; Tarighi P⁶ ; Eftekhari S⁶ ; Navidpour L⁷ ; Mirfazli SS⁸ Show Affiliations
Source: Medicinal Chemistry Research Published:2021

Abstract

In recent years, focusing on new potent anticancer agents with selective activity is one of the greatest challenges in cancer therapy. Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the main cause of cancer deaths in women. The sulfatase enzyme plays an important role in converting the sulfated steroids into non-sulfate steroid hormones, which increases the growth and development of many hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast cancer. In this regard, structure-based optimization was conducted to design novel flavone-sulfonates pharmacophore as a new steroid sulfatase inhibitor. In the present work, the conventional methods for the synthesis of 4-oxo-2-phenyl-4H-chromen-7-yl methanesulfonate derivatives were reported. Their cytotoxicity was evaluated with MTT assay against a breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). The apoptosis inducing activity of the most cytotoxic compound 3c with an IC50 value of 0.615 µM was evaluated in comparison to docetaxel in the presence of estradiol which is a crucial growth factor to survive the cancerous cells. The results of double staining Annexin V-FITC/PI analysis suggested that the cytotoxic activity of this compound 3c in MCF-7 cells occurs via apoptosis. Molecular docking studies were conducted to clarify the inhibition mode of the most promising compound (3c) over the sulfatase (1P49) binding site. The analysis revealed the role of hydrogen bond interaction with Gly181 and hydrophobic interactions through the 1P49 active site in the ligand-receptor complex as significant descriptors to rationalize the potential inhibition activity. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.