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Abdallah E Abdallah,1 Reda R Mabrouk,1 Mohamed R Elnagar,2 Amel Mostafa Farrag,3 Mohamed H Kalaba,4 Mohamed H Sharaf,4 Esmail M El-Fakharany,5 Dina Abed Bakhotmah,6 Eslam B Elkaeed,7 Maged Mohammed Saleh Al Ward1 1Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Design Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt; 2Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt; 3Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Girls), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt; 4Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt; 5Protein Research Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications, New Borg El Arab, Egypt; 6Chemistry Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, AlMaarefa University, Riyadh, 13713, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Abdallah E Abdallah; Maged Mohammed Saleh Al Ward, Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Design Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt, Email Abdulla_emara@azhar.edu.eg; majed1000ward@hotmail.comBackground: Cancer is still a major world health threat, causing a high rate of mortality. VEGFR-2 inhibitor anticancer agents are of great significance. However, they showed some serious side effects.Purpose: To discover new effective and safer anticancer agents, a new series of piperazinylquinoxaline-based derivatives was designed and synthesized on the basis of the pharmacophoric features of VEGFR-2 inhibitor drugs.Methods: The new candidates were evaluated against A549 lung cancer cells, HepG-2 hepatoma cells, Caco-2 colon cancer cells, MDA breast cancer cells, and VEGFR-2 kinase. Moreover, cell cycle kinetics and apoptosis rates were studied in HepG-2 cells treated with compound 11, which was the most promising candidate.Results: The new derivatives revealed better antitumor results (IC50 from 6.48 to 38.58 μM) against the aforementioned cancer cell lines than sorafenib. Also, the new candidates showed VEGFR-2 inhibition with IC50 values ranging from 0.19 to 0.60 μM compared to 0.08 μM for sorafenib. Compound 11, meanwhile, showed IC50 values equal to 10.61, 9.52, 12.45, 11.52, and 0.19 μM against the cancer cell lines and VEGFR-2, respectively. Moreover, compound 11 raised the apoptosis rate in HepG-2 cells from 5% to 44% and caused 4, 2.3, and 3-fold increases in BAX/Bcl-2 ratio, caspase-3 level, and P53 expression, respectively, compared to control untreated cells. Finally, the new derivatives displayed the correct binding mode into VEGFR-2 kinase pocket, giving interactions with the essential residues.Conclusion: This work suggests that compound 11 is a very significant anticancer candidate, and piperazinylquinoxaline is an important scaffold in the development of new potential effective and safer VEGFR-2 inhibitor agents.Keywords: anticancer, apoptosis, molecular modeling, piperazinylquinoxaline, VEGFR-2 kinase, Western blot

Aim: The current work is an extension to our previous work for the development of new thalidomide analogs. Materials & methods: Quinazolinone-based molecules carrying a glutarimide moiety have been designed, synthesized and biologically evaluated for immunomodulatory and anticancer activity. Results: Compounds 7d and 12 showed considerable immunomodulatory properties in comparison to thalidomide. 7d and 12 significantly reduced TNF-α levels in HepG-2 cells from 162.5 to 57.4 pg/ml and 49.2 pg/ml, respectively, compared with 53.1 pg/ml reported for thalidomide. Moreover, they caused 69.33 and 77.74% reduction in NF-κB P65, respectively, compared with 60.26% reduction for thalidomide. Similarly, they reduced VEGF from 432.5 to 161.3 pg/ml and 132.8 pg/ml, respectively, in comparison to 153.2 pg/ml reported for thalidomide. The two new derivatives, 7d and 12 also showed about eightfold increases in caspase-8 levels in cells treated with them. These results were slightly better than those of thalidomide. The obtained results revealed that Compound 12 had better immunomodulatory properties than thalidomide, with stronger effects on TNF-α, NF-κB P65, VEGF and caspase-8. Conclusion: This work indicates that compounds 7d and 12 have interesting biological properties that should be further evaluated and modified in order to develop clinically useful thalidomide analogs.

Immunomodulatory medications like thalidomide and its analogs prevent the production of some proinflammatory cytokines linked to cancer. A new series of thalidomide analogs were designed and synthesized in order to develop potential antitumor immunomodulatory agents. The antiproliferative activities of the new candidates against a panel of three human cancer cell lines (HepG-2, PC3 and MCF-7) were assessed in comparison to thalidomide as a positive control. The obtained results showed the relative significant potency of 18f (IC 50 = 11.91 ± 0.9, 9.27 ± 0.7, and 18.62 ± 1.5 μM) and 21b (IC 50 = 10.48 ± 0.8, 22.56 ± 1.6, and 16.39 ± 1.4 μM) against the mentioned cell lines, respectively. These results were comparable to thalidomide (IC 50 = 11.26 ± 0.54, 14.58 ± 0.57, and 16.87 ± 0.7 μM, respectively). To see to what extent the biological properties of the new candidates are relative to those of thalidomide, the effects of 18f and 21b on the expression levels of TNF-α, CASP8, VEGF, and NF-κB P65 were evaluated. Significant reductions in the proinflammatory TNF-α, VEGF, and NF-κB P65 levels in HepG-2 cells were observed after exposure to compounds 18f and 21b. Furthermore, a sharp increase in CASP8 levels was detected. The obtained results revealed that 21b is of greater significance than thalidomide in TNF-α and NF-κB P65 inhibition. The in silico ADMET and toxicity studies showed that most of tested candidates have a good profile of drug-likeness and low toxicity potential., Competing Interests: There is no conflict of interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Cancer is still a dangerous disease with a high mortality rate all over the world. In our attempt to develop potential anticancer candidates, new quinazoline and phthalazine based compounds were designed and synthesized. The new derivatives were built in line with the pharmacophoric features of thalidomide. The new derivatives as well as thalidomide were examined against three cancer cell lines, namely: hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2), breast cancer (MCF-7) and prostate cancer (PC3). Then the effects on the expression levels of caspase-8, VEGF, NF-κB P65, and TNF-α in HepG-2 cells were evaluated. The biological data revealed the high importance of phthalazine based compounds (24a-c), which were far better than thalidomide with regard to the antiproliferative activity. 24b showed IC 50 of 2.51, 5.80 and 4.11 μg mL -1 compared to 11.26, 14.58, and 16.87 μg mL -1 for thalidomide against the three cell lines respectively. 24b raised caspase-8 level by about 7 folds, compared to 8 folds reported for thalidomide. Also, VEGF level in HepG-2 cells treated with 24b was 185.3 pg mL -1 , compared to 432.5 pg mL -1 in control cells. Furthermore, the immunomodulatory properties were proven to 24b, which reduced TNF-α level by approximately half. At the same time, NF-κB P65 level in HepG-2 cells treated with 24b was 76.5 pg mL -1 compared to 278.1 and 110.5 pg mL -1 measured for control cells and thalidomide treated HepG-2 cells respectively. Moreover, an in vitro viability study against Vero non-cancerous cell line was investigated and the results reflected a high safety profile of all tested compounds. This work suggests 24b as a promising lead compound for development of new immunomodulatory anticancer agents., Competing Interests: There is no conflict of interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The emerging resistance to antimicrobial drugs demands the synthesis of new remedies for microbial infections. Attempts have been made to prepare new compounds by modifications in the quinolone structure. An important method for the synthesis of new quinolone is using Vilsmeier approach but has its own limitations. The present work aimed to synthesize novel norfloxacin analogues using modified Vilsmeier approach and conduct preliminary investigations for the evaluation of their physicochemical properties, photochemical probe, and antimicrobial effects. In an effort to synthesize norfloxacin analogues, only 7-bromo-6-N-benzyl piperazinyl-4-oxoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid was isolated using Vilsmeier approach at high temperature, where N, N'-bis-(4-fluoro-3-nitrophenyl)-oxalamide and N, N'-bis-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-malonamide were obtained at low temperature. Correlation results showed that lipophilicity, molecular mass, and electronic factors might influence the activity. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial effects against important pathogens, for their potential use in the inhibition of vitiligo.