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Cysteine-based mesenchymal-epithelial transition (c-Met) is a receptor tyrosine kinase that plays a definitive role during cancer progression and was identified as a possible target for anti-angiogenesis drugs. In the present study, different protocols of computer-based drug design were performed. Construction of predictive pharmacophore model using HypoGen algorithm resulted in a validated model of four features of positive ionizable, hydrogen bond acceptor, hydrophobic, and ring aromatic features with a correlation coefficient of 0.87, a configuration cost of 14.95, and a cost difference of 357.92. The model revealed a promising predictive power and had >90% probability of representing true correlation with the activity data. The model was established using Fisher's validation test at the 95% confidence level and test set prediction (r = 0.96), furthermore, the model was validated by mapping of set of compounds undergoing clinical trials as class Ⅱ c-met inhibitors. The generated valid pharmacophore model was then anticipated for virtual screening of three data bases. Moreover, scaffold hopping using replace fragments protocol was implemented. Hits generated were filtered according to Lipinski's rule; 510 selected hits were anatomized and subjected to molecular docking studies into the crystal structure of c-Met kinase. The good correlation between docking scores and ligand pharmacophore mapping fit values provided a reliable foundation for designing new potentially active candidates that may target c-Met kinase. Eventually, eight hits were selected as potential leads. Subsequently, seven (Hits) have displayed a higher dock score and demonstrated key residue interactions with stable molecular dynamics simulation. Therefore, these c-Met kinase inhibitors may further serve as new chemical spaces in designing new compounds., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A series of novel 6,7-dihydro-5H-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidine derivatives was successfully designed, synthesized and evaluated as a new chemical scaffold with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR 2) inhibitory activity. Compounds 6c and 6b showed enzyme inhibition of 97% and 87% at 10 µM, respectively, and exhibited potent dose-related VEGFR 2 inhibition with IC 50 values of 0.85 µM and 2.26 µM, respectively. The design of the 6,7-dihydro-5H-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidine scaffold was implemented via consecutive molecular modelling protocols prior to the synthesis and biological evaluation of the derivatives. First, sorafenib was docked in the binding site of VEGFR 2 to study its binding orientation and affinity, followed by the generation of a valid 3D QSAR pharmacophore model for use in the virtual screening of different 3D databases. Structures with promising pharmacophore-based virtual screening results were refined using molecular docking studies in the binding site of VEGFR 2. A novel scaffold was designed by incorporating the results of the pharmacophore model generation and molecular docking studies. The new scaffold showed hydrophobic interactions with the kinase front pocket that may be attributed to increasing residence time in VEGFR 2, which is a key success factor for ligand optimization in drug discovery. Different derivatives of the novel scaffold were validated using docking studies and pharmacophore mapping, where they exhibited promising results as VEGFR 2 inhibitors to be synthesized and biologically evaluated. 6,7-dihydro-5H-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidine is a new scaffold that can be further optimized for the synthesis of promising VEGFR 2 inhibitors., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, five series of (E)-6-(4-substituted phenyl)-4-oxohex-5-enoic acids IIb-f (E), (E)-3-(4-(substituted)-phenyl)acrylic acids IIIa-g (E), 4-(4-(substituted)phenylamino)-4-oxobutanoic acids VIa,b,e, 5-(4-(substituted)phenylamino)-5-oxopentanoic acids VIIa,f and 2-[(4-(substituted)phenyl) carbamoyl]benzoic acids VIIIa,e were designed and synthesized. Selected compounds were screened in vitro for their cytotoxic effect on 60 human NCI tumor cell lines. Compound IIf (E) displayed significant inhibitory activity against NCI Non-Small Cell Lung A549/ATCC Cancer cell line (68% inhibition) and NCI-H460 Cancer cell line (66% inhibition). Moreover, the final compounds were evaluated in vitro for their cytotoxic activity on HepG2 Cancer cell line in which histone deacetylase (HDAC) is overexpressed. Compounds IIc (E), IIf (E), IIIb (E), and IIIg (E) exhibited the highest cytotoxic activity against HepG2 human cancer cell lines with IC50 ranging from 2.27 to 10.71μM. In addition, selected compounds were tested on histone deacetylase isoforms (HDAC1-11). Molecular docking simulation was also carried out for HDLP enzyme to investigate their HDAC binding affinity. In addition, generation of 3D-pharmacophore model and quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models were combined to explore the structural requirements controlling the observed cytotoxic properties., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)