In this study, a novel series of 1,2-disubstituted benzo[d]imidazoles was rationally designed as VEGFR-2 inhibitors targeting hepatocellular carcinoma. Our design strategy is two-fold; it aimed first at studying the effect of replacing the 5-methylfuryl moiety of the well-known antiangiogenic 2-furylbenzimidazoles with an isopropyl moiety on the VEGFR-2 inhibitory activity and the cytotoxic activity. Our second objective was to further optimize the structures of the benzimidazole derivatives through elongation of the side chains at their one-position for the design of more potent type II-like VEGFR-2 inhibitors. The designed 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles demonstrated potent cytotoxic activity against the HepG2 cell line, reaching IC50 = 1.98 μM in comparison to sorafenib (IC50 = 10.99 μM). In addition, the synthesized compounds revealed promising VEGFR-2 inhibitory activity in the HepG2 cell line, e.g., compounds 17a and 6 showed 82% and 80% inhibition, respectively, in comparison to sorafenib (% inhibition = 92%). Studying the effect of 17a on the HepG2 cell cycle demonstrated that 17a arrested the cell cycle at the G2/M phase and induced a dose-dependent apoptotic effect. Molecular docking studies of the synthesized 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles in the VEGFR-2 active site displayed their ability to accomplish the essential hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions for optimum inhibitory activity.
在这项研究中,一系列新型的1,2-二取代苯并[d]咪唑被合理设计为靶向肝细胞癌的VEGFR-2抑制剂。我们的设计策略是双重的;首先旨在研究将众所周知的抗血管生成的2-呋喃基苯并咪唑的5-甲基呋喃基团替换为异丙基基团对VEGFR-2抑制活性和细胞毒活性的影响。我们的第二个目标是通过延长它们的一位点的侧链来进一步优化苯并咪唑衍生物的结构,设计更强效的类II型VEGFR-2抑制剂。设计的1,2-二取代苯并咪唑表现出强大的细胞毒活性,对HepG2细胞系的IC50 = 1.98 μM,而索拉非尼的IC50 = 10.99 μM。此外,合成的化合物在HepG2细胞系中显示出有希望的VEGFR-2抑制活性,例如,化合物17a和6分别显示出82%和80%的抑制作用,而索拉非尼的抑制率为92%。研究17a对HepG2细胞周期的影响表明,17a在G2/M期阻滞细胞周期并诱导剂量依赖的凋亡效应。对合成的1,2-二取代苯并咪唑在VEGFR-2活性位点的分子对接研究显示它们能够完成必要的氢键和疏水相互作用,以实现最佳的抑制活性。