1. Academic Validation
  2. Chemical synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and in silico analysis of new 2,3,3a,4,5,6-hexahydrocyclopenta[c]pyrazole derivatives as potential anti-mitotic agents

Chemical synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and in silico analysis of new 2,3,3a,4,5,6-hexahydrocyclopenta[c]pyrazole derivatives as potential anti-mitotic agents

  • Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2016 Aug 15;26(16):3855-61. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2016.07.025.
Maninder Minu 1 Deepti Singh 2 Tejashree Mahaddalkar 3 Manu Lopus 3 Philip Winter 4 Ahmed T Ayoub 4 Kristal Missiaen 4 Tatiana Martins Tilli 5 Manijeh Pasdar 4 Jack Tuszynski 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Chemistry, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Dayalbagh, Agra 282110, India. Electronic address: minu.maninder@gmail.com.
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Dayalbagh, Agra 282110, India.
  • 3 Experimental Cancer Therapeutics and Chemical Biology, UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, University of Mumbai, Kalina, Mumbai 400098, India.
  • 4 Division of Experimental Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
  • 5 Laboratório de Modelagem de Sistemas Biológicos, National Institute of Science and Technology for Innovation in Neglected Diseases (INCT/IDN, CNPq), Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Abstract

We have synthesized new, biologically active mono- and di-substituted 2,3,3a,4,5,6-hexahydrocyclopenta[c]pyrazole derivatives bearing electron withdrawing groups and electron donating groups. These derivative structures were characterized by their spectral and analytical data. The newly synthesized hexahydropyrazole analogues were evaluated for their in vitro Anticancer activity against breast and lung Cancer cell lines using a cytotoxicity bioassay. To understand their mechanism of action, tubulin binding assays were performed which pointed to their binding to microtubules in a mode similar to but not identical to colchicine, as evidenced by their KD value evaluation. Computational docking studies also suggested binding near the colchicine binding site on tubulin. These results were further confirmed by colchicine-binding assays on the most active compounds, which indicated that they bound to tubulin near but not at the colchicine site. The moderate cytotoxic effects of these compounds may be due to the presence of electron donating groups on the para-position of the phenyl ring, along with the hexahydropyrazole core nucleus. The observed anti-cancer activity based on inhibition of microtubule formation may be helpful in designing more potent compounds with a hexahydropyrazole moiety.

Keywords

Anti-mitotic; Colchicine-binding assay; Docking; Hexahydropyrazole; Tubulin; Tubulin binding assay.

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