COX-2 is a widely studied biological target, since its activity is directly related to the inflammation response. The design of COX-2 selective inhibitors is an ongoing topic in drug design. We performed a quantitative structure–activity relationship and docking studies over a series of benzenesulfonamide derivatives on their inhibition towards COX-1 and COX-2, in order to rationalize their selectivity towards COX-2. Constitutional, topological and molecular property descriptors for the QSAR models and molecular docking calculations were employed. The mathematical model highlighted that lipophilic character and size are the most important features for COX-2 inhibition by benzenesulfonamides. A second QSAR model revealed that the dipole moment, the number of hydrogen bond donors and lipophilicity descriptors of benzenesulfonamides are crucial for their binding to COX-1. Moreover, artificial neural networks were employed to improve the prediction power of the COX-1 inhibition QSAR model. In this sense, we proposed new selective potential inhibitors by introducing different halogens into the benzenesulfonamide scaffold, improving their interactions with key residues of COX-2.

We report synthesis, characterization, biological evaluation, and molecular-docking studies of 18 thieno[2,3-b]pyridines with a phenylacetamide moiety at position 2, which is disubstituted with F, Cl, Br, or I at position 4, and with electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups (-CN, -NO₂, -CF₃, and -CH₃) at position 2, to study how the electronic properties of the substituents affected the FOXM1-inhibitory activity. Among compounds 1–18, only those bearing a -CN (regardless of the halogen) decreased FOXM1 expression in a triple-negative breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231), as shown by Western blotting. However, only compounds 6 and 16 decreased the relative expression of FOXM1 to a level lower than 50%, and hence, we determined their anti-proliferative activity (IC₅₀) in MDA-MB-231 cells using the MTT assay, which was comparable to that observed with FDI-6, in contrast to compound 1, which was inactive according to both Western blot and MTT assays. We employed molecular docking to calculate the binding interactions of compounds 1–18 in the FOXM1 DNA-binding site. The results suggest a key role for residues Val296 and Leu289 in this binding. Furthermore, we used molecular electrostatic potential maps showing the effects of different substituents on the overall electron density.

The synthesis and characterisation of new silicon-containing amides and esters derived from ibuprofen is reported. These compounds were tested against nuclear transcription factor ?ß (NF-?ß). Higher inhibition values than those of ibuprofen were achieved by the new amides 10a–10d; ester derivatives did not show inhibitory activity. The cytotoxicity of these new derivatives was screened; none of them displayed significant toxicity at the screened doses. A molecular docking calculation on IKKß (an enzyme related to NF-?ß activation) was carried out and the results showed that the amides interact better than ibuprofen with key residues, which are important to the inhibition of IKKß.