Design, synthesis and anticancer activity of naphthoquinone derivatives

J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem. 2020 Dec;35(1):773-785. doi: 10.1080/14756366.2020.1740693.

Abstract

Basis on molecular docking and pharmacophore analysis of naphthoquinone moiety, a total of 23 compounds were designed and synthesised. With the help of reverse targets searching, anti-cancer activity was preliminarily evaluated, most of them are effective against some tumour cells, especially compound 12: 1-(5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydronaphthalen-2-yl)-4-methylpent-3-en-1-yl-4-oxo-4-((4-phenoxyphenyl)amino) butanoate whose IC50 against SGC-7901 was 4.1 ± 2.6 μM. Meanwhile the anticancer mechanism of compound 12 had been investigated by AnnexinV/PI staining, immunofluorescence, Western blot assay and molecular docking. The results indicated that this compound might induce cell apoptosis and cell autophagy through regulating the PI3K signal pathway.

Keywords: Naphthoquinone moiety; anticancer activity; autophagy.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Design*
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Humans
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Molecular Structure
  • Naphthoquinones / chemical synthesis
  • Naphthoquinones / chemistry
  • Naphthoquinones / pharmacology*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Naphthoquinones

Grants and funding

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Nos. 21977001 and 21602029], the Horizontal cooperation project of Fuyang municipal government [Nos. XDHX201722 and XDHX2016026], Anhui Province Foundation [No. 18030701213], Horizontal cooperation project of Yifan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd [HX2019033], and Technological Fund of Fuyang normal university [2017FSKJ16].