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Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzymes are involved in the growth and development of several tissues, including cancer cells. It has been reported that targeting the ALDH family, including the ALDH1A subfamily, enhances cancer treatment outcomes. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of ALDH1A3-affinic compounds that have been recently discovered by our group, on breast (MCF7 and MDA-MB-231) and prostate (PC-3) cancer cell lines. These compounds were investigated on the selected cell lines as single treatments and in combination with doxorubicin (DOX). Results showed that the combination treatment experiments of the selective ALDH1A3 inhibitors (compounds 15 and 16) at variable concentrations with DOX resulted in significant increases in the cytotoxic effect on the MCF7 cell line for compound 15, and to a lesser extent for compound 16 on the PC-3 cell line, compared to DOX alone. The activity of compounds 15 and 16 as single treatments on all cell lines was found to be non-cytotoxic. Therefore, our findings showed that the investigated compounds have a promising potential to target cancer cells, possibly via an ALDH-related pathway, and sensitize them to DOX treatment.

Levofloxacin is a widely used fluoroquinolone in several infectious diseases. The structure–activity relationship of levofloxacin has been studied. However, the effect of changing the carbonyl into thiocarbonyl of levofloxacin has not been investigated up to the date of this report. In this work, levofloxacin structure was slightly modified by making a thionated form (compound 3), which was investigated for its antibacterial activity, biocompatibility, and cytotoxicity, as well as spectroscopic properties. The antibacterial susceptibility testing against five different bacteria showed promising minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), particularly against B. spizizenii and E. coli, with an MIC value of 1.9 µM against both bacteria, and 7.8 µM against P. mirabilis. The molecular docking experiment showed similar binding interactions of both levofloxacin and compound 3 with the active site residues of topoisomerase IV. The biocompatibility and cytotoxicity results revealed that compound 3 was more biocompatible with normal cells and more cytotoxic against cancer cells, compared to levofloxacin. Interestingly, compound 3 also showed an excitation profile with a distinctive absorption peak at λmax 404 nm. Overall, our results suggest that the thionation of quinolones may provide a successful approach toward a new generation with enhanced pharmacokinetic and safety profiles and overall activity as potential antibacterial agents.