Pyrazinoic acid or pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid (PA), due to its nitrogenous heteroaromatic ring, can be explored as an anticancer agent. Here, a series of twenty novels PA derivatives have been synthesized and characterized using IR, NMR, and mass spectrums. Their cytotoxic activity was evaluated against three different cancer cell lines, including lung (A549), breast (MCF-7), and colon (HT-29). P16, the most potent compound, showed moderate cytotoxicity with IC 50 of 6.11 μM, 10.64 μM, and 14.92 μM, against the A549, MCF-7, and HT-29 cell lines, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of this compound against MRC5 as a non-tumoral lung cell line, exhibited a selectivity index of 9.02. The apoptotic induction activity of P16 was also performed on the A549 cell line. The results showed that as the concentration of the compound increases (from 3 to 6 μM), the percentage of induction of apoptosis increases from 8.54% to 72.4%. Electrophoretic gel mobility shift assays showed that P16 was also able to ROS induce DNA cleavage in the presents of H 2 O 2 (1.0 mM) in dose-dependent manner. Molecular docking was also applied to anticipate the binding locations and the binding of the synthesized compound with Bcl-2 apoptosis regulator and DNA as their proposed targets.
A series of 3‐bromopyruvate (3‐BP) derivatives were synthesized to develop new potent anticancer agents. The chemical structures of the compounds were characterized using FT‐IR, 1H‐, 13C‐NMR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis (CHN). Their cytotoxic activities were investigated against four cancer cell lines, including colon (SW1116), breast (MDA‐MB‐231), lung (A549), and liver (HepG2) cancer cell lines. Among the synthesized compounds, 3b showed promising cytotoxic activity compared to 3‐BP, with IC50 values of 16.3 μM, 19.1 μM, 27.8 μM, and 14.5 μM against A549, MDA‐MB‐231, SW1116 and, HepG2 cell lines, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of these compounds on MCF‐10A (a normal breast cell lines) was investigated to determine their selectivity between tumorigenic and non‐tumorigenic cells. Since the 3‐BP inhibits hexokinase II (HK II), molecular docking of 3‐BP derivatives was carried out using AutoDock 4.2. The binding energies of these derivatives were greater than 3‐BP, indicating that they had a higher affinity for HK II. For validation of docking, a 40 ns MD simulation was performed. SwissADME was used to predict pharmacokinetics, drug‐likeness, and ADME parameters of the screened compounds. The results demonstrated that these derivatives are suitable candidates for developing orally potent HK II inhibitors.
Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most typical type of dementia and memory loss, is a complicated and progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Due to the multi-factorial etiology of AD, the multi-target-directed ligand (MTDL) approach can be a potential method in seeking new drug candidates for this disease. In this study, over 200 tacrine-naphtoquinone hybrids have been designed and their drug-likeness, molecular docking, and descriptor analysis were conducted to find out a drug candidate with less toxicity and better binding affinity than tacrine. The Docking analysis was conducted using human acetylcholineesterase (1ACJ), human butyrylcholineesterase (4BDS), and β-secretase (BACE1) (1w51) enzymes using Autodock 4.2 and Vina. Promising results were obtained on the types of interactions. Based on molecular docking on 3 targets as well as protein ligand interaction fingerprint (PLIF) studies, the compounds with better results were introduced as good candidates for synthesis. The validity of docking protocols was confirmed using a set of familiar active ligands and decoys on these targets by means of 2 known statistical metrics such as the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) and Enrichment Factor (EF). Structure activity relationship (SAR) studies, in these class of compounds, show that the hydroxyethylamine, as a linker, is an essential group to improving binding site to AChE and BACE-1 targets.
Background: Antacids are the most commonly used medications for fast symptomatic relief of gastric disorders. Because of adverse effects, low efficiency and the high cost of some chemical antacids, identifying a natural medicine with high efficiency and low cost seems useful. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to prepare antacid tablets from Cuttlefish bone and assessment of its antacid properties. Methods: 24 different formulations of cuttlefish bone were prepared by direct compression using different fillers (starch, cellulose, lactose, and mixture of those) in different ratios of the drug. Characterization of powders and tablets was done on all formulations and marketed dosage forms (calcium carbonate and Al-Mg). Results: Weight uniformity, hardness, and friability of all formulations were in acceptable range. Tablets prepared by calcined cuttlebone disintegrated in longer time due to their higher hardness which were mostly higher than 5 Kg. Also, disintegration time of formulations 50-50 (lower dose of cuttlebone) was less than other tablets (2 minutes or less). Results of antacid capacity showed that formulations 90-10 and 80-20 raise the acidic pH of the medium above 7.5, which were the same as or more than the capacity of the marketed tablets.
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