Discovery of new thiazolidine-2,4-dione derivatives as potential VEGFR-2 inhibitors: In vitro and in silico studies

Abstract

In this study, a series of seven novel 2,4-dioxothiazolidine derivatives with potential anticancer and VEGFR-2 inhibiting abilities were designed and synthesized as VEGFR-2 inhibitors. The synthesized compounds were tested in vitro for their potential to inhibit VEGFR-2 and the growth of HepG2 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines. Among the compounds tested, compound 22 (IC50 = 0.079 μM) demonstrated the highest anti-VEGFR-2 efficacy. Furthermore, it demonstrated significant anti-proliferative activities against HepG2 (IC50 = 2.04 ± 0.06 μM) and MCF-7 (IC50 = 1.21 ± 0.04 M). Additionally, compound 22 also increased the total apoptotic rate of the MCF-7 cancer cell lines with cell cycle arrest at S phase. As well, computational methods were applied to study the VEGFR-2-22 complex at the molecular level. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to investigate the complex's structural and kinetic characteristics. The DFT calculations further revealed the structural and electronic properties of compound 22. Finally, computational ADMET and toxicity tests were performed indicating the likeness of the proposed compounds to be drugs. The results suggest that compound 22 displays promise as an effective anticancer treatment and can serve as a model for future structural modifications and biological investigations in this field.

Keywords

• Drug design
• VEGFR-2 inhibitors
• Anticancer
• Thiazolidine-2,4-dione
• In silico studies