This research study describes the development of new small molecules based on 2,4-thiazolidinedione (2,4-TZD) and their aldose reductase (AR) inhibitory activities. The synthesis of 17 new derivatives of 2,4-TZDs hybrids was feasible by incorporating two known bioactive scaffolds, benzothiazole heterocycle, and nitro phenacyl moiety. The most active hybrid (8b) was found to inhibit AR in a non-competitive manner (0.16 µM), as confirmed by kinetic studies and molecular docking simulations. Furthermore, the in vivo experiments demonstrated that compound 8b had a significant hypoglycaemic effect in mice with hyperglycaemia induced by streptozotocin. Fifty milligrams per kilogram dose of 8b produced a marked decrease in blood glucose concentration, and a lower dose of 5 mg/kg demonstrated a noticeable antihyperglycaemic effect. These outcomes suggested that compound 8b may be used as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of diabetic complications.
Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, often resulting from uncontrolled growth in various organs. Protein kinase inhibitors represent an important class of targeted cancer therapies. Recently, the kinases BRAF and VEGFR-2 have shown synergistic effects on tumor progression. Seeking to develop dual BRAF/VEGFR-2 inhibitors, we synthesized 18 amino-benzothiazole derivatives with structural similarities to reported dual inhibitors. Four compounds—4a, 4f, 4l, and 4r—demonstrated remarkable cytotoxicity, with IC50 values ranging from 3.58 to 15.36 μM, against three cancer cell lines. Furthermore, these compounds showed IC50 values of 38.77–66.22 μM in the case of a normal cell line, which was significantly safer than the reference, sorafenib. Subsequent investigation revealed that compound 4f exhibited the capacity to inhibit the BRAF and VEGFR-2 enzymes, with IC50 values similar to sorafenib (0.071 and 0.194 μM, respectively). Moreover, compound 4f caused G2-M- and S-phase cycle arrest. Molecular modeling demonstrated binding patterns compatible with inhibition for both targets, where 4f exerted the critical interactions in the BRAF site and interacted in the VEGFR-2 site in a manner akin to sorafenib, demonstrating affinity similar to dabrafenib.
New pyrazoles have been synthesized and evaluated as breast cancer cell growth inhibitors. Condensation of the substituted pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde 1 with acetophenone and chloroacetophenone afforded α, β-unsaturated ketones 2 and 3 , respectively. Compounds 2 and 3 were subjected to different reactions using hydrazine hydrate, substituted hydrazine hydrate, hydroxylamine, o- phenylenediamine, malononitrile under different conditions affording 4-substituted pyrazole derivatives 4–28 . Structure elucidation of these compounds was conducted using IR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, mass spectral data and elemental analysis. Antitumor activity of target compounds was tested against MCF-7 cell line (human breast cancer). Compounds 4 , 10 and 20 show significant antitumor activity against breast cancer. Docking was performed with protein 1UYK to study the binding mode of the designed compounds.