Design, synthesis and investigation of the mechanism of action underlying anti-leukemic effects of the quinolinequinones as LY83583 analogs

Abstract Literature conclusively shows that one of the quinolinequinone analogs (6-anilino-5,8-quinolinequinone), referred to as LY83583 hereafter, an inhibitor of guanylyl cyclase, was used as the inhibitor of the cell proliferation in cancer cells. In the present work, a series of analogs of the LY83583 containing alkoxy group(s) in aminophenyl ring (AQQ1-15) were designed and synthesized via a two-step route and evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against four different cancer cell lines (K562, Jurkat, MT-2, and HeLa) and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by MTT assay. The analog (AQQ13) was identified to possess the most potent cytotoxic activity against K562 human chronic myelogenous (CML) cell line (IC50 = 0.59 ± 0.07 μM) with significant selectivity (SI = 4.51) compared to imatinib (IC50 = 5.46 ± 0.85 μM; SI = 4.60). Based on its superior cytotoxic activity, the analog AQQ13 was selected for further mechanistic studies including determination of its apoptotic effects on K562 cell line via annexin V/ethidium homodimer III staining potency, ABL1 kinase inhibitory activity, and DNA cleaving capacity. Results ascertained that the analog AQQ13 induced apoptosis in K562 cell line with notable DNA-cleaving activity. However, AQQ13 demonstrated weak ABL1 inhibition indicating the correlation between anti-K562 and anti-ABL1 activities. In continuance, respectively conducted in silico molecular docking and Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion (ADME) studies drew attention to enhanced binding interactions of AQQ13 towards DNA and its high compatibility with the potential limits of specified pharmacokinetic parameters making it as a potential anti-leukemic drug candidate. Our findings may provide a new insight for further development of novel quinolinequinone-based anticancer analogs against CML.