A new series of benzimidazole,
1,2,4-triazole, and 1,3,5-triazine
derivatives were designed and synthesized using a microwave irradiation
synthetic approach utilizing 2-phenylacetyl isothiocyanate
(1)
as a key starting material. All the new analogues were evaluated
as anticancer agents against a panel of cancer cell lines utilizing
doxorubicin as a standard drug. Most of the tested derivatives exhibited
selective cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and A-549 cancer cell lines.
Furthermore, the new target compounds
5
,
6
, and
7
as the most potent antiproliferative agents
have been assessed as
in vitro
EGFR
WT
and
EGFR
T790M
inhibitors compared to the reference drugs erlotinib
and AZD9291. They represented more potent suppression activity against
the mutated EGFR
T790M
than the wild-type EGFR
WT
. Moreover, the compounds
5
,
6
, and
7
down-regulated the oncogenic parameter p53 ubiquitination.
A docking simulation of compound
6b
was carried out to
correlate its molecular structure with its significant EGFR inhibition
potency and its possible binding interactions within the active site
of EGFR
WT
and the mutant EGFR
T790M
.