Previous studies have reported that compounds bearing
an arylamide
linked to a heterocyclic planar ring have successfully inhibited the
hemopexin-like domain (PEX9) of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9).
PEX9 has been suggested to be more selectively targeted than MMP9’s
catalytic domain in a degrading extracellular matrix under some pathologic
conditions, especially in cancer. In this study, we aim to synthesize
and evaluate 10 arylamide compounds as MMP9 inhibitors through an
enzymatic assay as well as a cellular assay. The mechanism of inhibition
for the most active compounds was investigated via molecular dynamics
simulation (MD). Molecular docking was performed using AutoDock4.0
with PEX9 as the protein model to predict the binding of the designed
compounds. The synthesis was carried out by reacting aniline derivatives
with 3-bromopropanoyl chloride using pyridine as the catalyst at room
temperature. The MMP9 assay was conducted using the FRET-based MMP9
kits protocol and gelatin zymography assay. The cytotoxicity assay
was done using the MTT method, and the MD simulation was performed
using AMBER16. Assay on MMP9 demonstrated activities of three compounds
(2, 7, and 9) with more than
50% inhibition. Further inhibition on MMP9 expressed by 4T1 showed
that two compounds (7 and 9) inhibited its
gelatinolytic activity more than 50%. The cytotoxicity assay against
4T1 cells results in the inhibition of the cell growth with an EC50 of 125 μM and 132 μM for 7 and 9, respectively. The MD simulation explained a stable interaction
of 7 and 9 in PEX9 at 100 ns with a free
energy of binding of −8.03 kcal/mol and −6.41 kcal/mol,
respectively. Arylamides have potential effects as selective MMP9
inhibitors in inhibiting breast cancer cell progression.