Background: TNF-␣-induced NF-B pathway is associated with the progression of several cancers and abrogation of TNF signaling a potential target for cancer treatment. Results: Novel biscoumarin inhibits TNF signaling in vitro and in vivo in IBD model. Conclusion:The lead compound interrupts the trimeric structure of TNF to achieve this effect. Significance: This study introduces a novel TNF inhibitor with the potential to target pro-inflammatory diseases.

The anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 is a well-known and attractive therapeutic target for cancer. In the present study the solution-phase T3P-DMSO mediated efficient synthesis of 2-amino-chromene-3-carbonitriles from alcohols, malanonitrile and phenols is reported. These novel 2-amino-chromene-3-carbonitriles showed cytotoxicity in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines. Compound 4g was found to be the most bioactive, decreasing growth and increasing apoptosis of AML cells. Moreover, compound 4g (at a concentration of 5 µM) increased the G2/M and sub-G1 (apoptosis) phases of AML cells. The AML cells treated with compound 4g exhibited decreased levels of Bcl-2 and increased levels of caspase-9. In silico molecular interaction analysis showed that compound 4g shared a similar global binding motif with navitoclax (another small molecule that binds Bcl-2), however compound 4g occupies a smaller volume within the P2 hot spot of Bcl-2. The intermolecular π-stacking interaction, direct electrostatic interactions, and docking energy predicted for 4g in complex with Bcl-2 suggest a strong affinity of the complex, rendering 4g as a promising Bcl-2 inhibitor for evaluation as a new anticancer agent.

Elevated activity of methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MRS) in many cancers renders it a possible drug target in this disease area, as well as in a series of parasitic diseases.

Phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) is a key enzyme involved in the hydrolysis of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and widely expressed in several types of cancers. The inhibition of PDE4 results in an increased concentration of intracellular cAMP levels that imparts the anti‐inflammatory response in the target cells. In the present report, two series of triazolo‐pyridine dicarbonitriles and substituted dihydropyridine dicarbonitriles were synthesized using green protocol (TBAB in refluxed water). We next evaluated the title compounds for their cytotoxicity towards lung cancer (A549) cells and identified 7′‐[4‐(methylsulfonyl)phenyl]‐5′‐oxo‐1′,5′‐dihydrospiro[cyclohexane‐1,2′‐[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5‐a]pyridine]‐6′,8′‐dicarbonitrile (5h) and 7′‐(1‐methyl‐1H‐imidazol‐2‐yl)‐5′‐oxo‐1′,5′‐dihydrospiro[cyclohexane‐1,2′‐[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5‐a]pyridine]‐6′,8′‐dicarbonitrile (5j) as lead analogs with the IC50 values of 15.2 and 24.1 μm, respectively. Furthermore, all the new compounds were tested for PDE4 inhibitory activity and 5j showed relatively good inhibitory activity towards PDE4 with inhibition of 50.9 % at 10 μm. In silico analysis demonstrated the favorable interaction of the title compounds with the target enzyme. Taken together, the present study introduces a new scaffold for the development of novel PDE4 inhibitors to fight against inflammatory diseases.

A chemoinformatics approach identified 2-Amino-4-(2′-methyl-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl)-5-oxo-4,5-dihydropyrano[3,2-c]chromene-3-carbonitrile as a snake venom PLA2 inhibitor, this was confirmed with an IC50 = 12.5 μM.