Purines and triazolo[4,3-e]purines containing pyrazole moiety as potential anticancer and antioxidant agents

Aim: Targeting apoptosis regulators such as caspases aiming at inducing apoptosis is an attractive strategy in cancer therapy. Materials & methods: 8-substituted purine incorporating pyrazole moiety were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anticancer and antioxidant activities. Results: Compounds 7a and 8a displayed potent and selective anticancer activity against lung cancer A549 cell line with low cytotoxicity on peripheral blood mononuclear normal cells. Compounds 7a and 8a induced caspase dependent apoptotic death and DNA damage in all cancer cell lines. In addition, compounds 2, 5, 6a, 7a, 8a, 8c, 11a, 11b and 12b showed good antioxidant activity higher than that of the standard ascorbic acid. Conclusion: Compounds 7a and 8a can be considered promising dual anticancer and antioxidant leads inducing caspase-dependent apoptotic death and DNA damage.