Design, synthesis and anticancer evaluation of 6,7-disubstituted-4-phenoxyquinoline derivatives bearing 1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxamide moiety as novel multi-target TKIs

Bioorg Chem. 2022 Apr:121:105672. doi: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2022.105672. Epub 2022 Feb 18.

Abstract

Giving the fact that the disorders of multiple receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are characteristics of various cancers, we assumed that developing novel multi-target drugs might have an advantage in treating the complex cancers. Taking the multi-target c-Met inhibitor Foretinib as the leading compound, we discovered a novel series of 6,7-disubstituted-4-phenoxyquinoline derivatives bearing 1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxamide moiety with the help of molecular docking. Among them, the most promising compound 33 showed a prominent activity against Hela (IC50 = 0.21 µM), A549 (IC50 = 0.39 µM), and MCF-7 (IC50 = 0.33 µM), which were 3.28-4.82 times more active than that of Foretinib. Additionally, compound 33 dose dependently induced apoptosis by arresting A549 cells at G1 phase. Enzymatic assays and docking analyses were further confirmed that compound 33 was a multi-target inhibitor with the strong potencies against c-Met (IC50 = 11.77 nM), MEK1 (IC50 = 10.71 nM), and Flt-3 (IC50 = 22.36 nM). In the A549 cells mediated xenograft mouse model, compound 33 inhibited the tumor growth (TGI = 64%) without obvious toxicity, establishing compound 33 as a promising candidate for cancer therapy.

Keywords: 6,7-Disubstituted-4-phenoxyquinoline derivatives; Antitumor activity; Molecular docking; Multi-target drugs; Tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amides / chemistry*
  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents* / pharmacology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Drug Design
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Naphthyridines / chemistry*
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met
  • Quinolines / chemical synthesis*
  • Quinolines / pharmacology
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Amides
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Naphthyridines
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Quinolines
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met