Synthesis, in vitro Cytotoxicity Evaluation, and Docking Studies of Gloriosine Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents

Abstract

In the present work, series of C10‐amine and amide derivatives of gloriosine were synthesized and evaluated for in vitro cytotoxic activity against a panel of six human cancer cell lines (MDA‐MB‐231, U87, FaDu, SiHa, A549, and MCF‐7) of multiple tissue origin. The synthesized compounds were characterized by 1H and 13C NMR and MS experiments. In vitro cytotoxicity study showed that most of the C10‐amine derivatives demonstrated superior activity in two of the tested cell lines, namely U87 and FaDu cell lines, while C10‐amide derivatives showed poor activity in all the cell lines. The C10‐amine derivatives were subjected to molecular docking studies to explore their possible binding interactions with colchicine binding site of tubulin protein, and in‐silico ADME profiling to study the drug‐likeness. The C10‐amine derivatives may be less toxic than gloriosine towards normal cells and may provide the lead for anticancer drug development.