The rapid and global spread of a new human coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has produced an immediate urgency to discover promising targets for the treatment of COVID-19. Here, we consider drug repurposing as an attractive approach that can facilitate the drug discovery process by repurposing existing pharmaceuticals to treat illnesses other than their primary indications. We review current information concerning the global health issue of COVID-19 including promising approved drugs, e.g., human angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (hACEIs). Besides, we describe computational approaches to be used in drug repurposing and highlight examples of in-silico studies of drug development efforts against SARS-CoV-2. Alacepril and lisinopril were found to interact with human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2), the host entranceway for SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, through exhibiting the most acceptable rmsd_refine values and the best binding affinity through forming a strong hydrogen bond with Asn90, which is assumed to be essential for the activity, as well as significant extra interactions with other receptor-binding residues. Furthermore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations followed by calculation of the binding free energy were also carried out for the most promising two ligand-pocket complexes from docking studies (alacepril and lisinopril) to clarify some information on their thermodynamic and dynamic properties and confirm the docking results as well. These results we obtained probably provided an excellent lead candidate for the development of therapeutic drugs against COVID-19. Eventually, animal experiments and accurate clinical trials are needed to confirm the potential preventive and treatment effect of these compounds.

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A new series of benzoxazole derivatives were designed and synthesised to have the main essential pharmacophoric features of VEGFR-2 inhibitors. Cytotoxic activities were evaluated for all derivatives against two human cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and HepG2. Also, the effect of the most cytotoxic derivatives on VEGFR-2 protein concentration was assessed by ELISA. Compounds 14o , 14l , and 14b showed the highest activities with VEGFR-2 protein concentrations of 586.3, 636.2, and 705.7 pg/ml, respectively. Additionally, the anti-angiogenic property of compound 14b against human umbilical vascular endothelial cell (HUVEC) was performed using a wound healing migration assay. Compound 14b reduced proliferation and migratory potential of HUVEC cells. Furthermore, compound 14b was subjected to further biological investigations including cell cycle and apoptosis analyses. Compound 14b arrested the HepG2 cell growth at the Pre-G1 phase and induced apoptosis by 16.52%, compared to 0.67% in the control (HepG2) cells. The effect of apoptosis was buttressed by a 4.8-fold increase in caspase-3 level compared to the control cells. Besides, different in silico docking studies were also performed to get better insights into the possible binding mode of the target compounds with VEGFR-2 active sites.

New quinoline and isatin derivatives having the main characteristics of VEGFR-2 inhibitors was synthesised. The antiproliferative effects of these compounds were estimated against A549, Caco-2, HepG2, and MDA-MB-231. Compounds 13 and 14 showed comparable activities with doxorubicin against the Caco-2 cells. These compounds strongly inhibited VEGFR-2 kinase activity. The cytotoxic activities were evaluated against Vero cells. Compound 7 showed the highest value of safety and selectivity. Cell migration assay displayed the ability of compound 7 to prevent healing and migration abilities in the cancer cells. Furthermore, compound 7 induced apoptosis in Caco-2 through the expressive down-regulation of the apoptotic genes, Bcl2, Bcl-xl, and Survivin, and the upregulation of the TGF gene. Molecular docking against VEGFR-2 emerged the interactions of the synthesised compounds in a similar way to sorafenib. Additionally, seven molecular dynamics simulations studies were applied and confirmed the stability of compound 13 in the active pocket of VEGFR-2 over 100 ns.