The design, synthesis, in vitro biological evaluation and molecular modeling of novel benzenesulfonate derivatives bearing chalcone moieties as potent anti- microtubulin polymerization agents

A series of novel 3,4-dimethoxylbenzenesulfonate derivatives containing a chalcone structure were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-proliferative activities against HepG2, HCT-116, MCF-7 and HeLa cell lines, as well as the effects of compound 10b on mitotic arrest and cell cycle of MCF-7 carcinoma cell line. Most importantly, the results of DAPI staining under co-focal microscope justified that compound 10b functioned even at relatively low concentration. The analogues showed a potent bio-activity towards tumor cells with IC50 values at nano-mole class, compared with those of positive control drug Colchicine, whose IC50 were 150.4 nM for MCF-7, 123.9 nM for HepG2, 125.4 nM for HCT-116 and 131.4 nM for HeLa cells. Also, a molecular docking modeling was utilized to reveal the binding mode of derivatives and microtubule. Among all the synthesized compounds, compound 10b stands out as IC50 values against all the selected cell lines were at average 80 nM ( in which the values against MCF-7 and HepG2 were similar; about 79.2 nM). In this research, we gave strong evidence upon the optimized stratagem for ligands targeting the colchicine-binding site on microtubules, explaining the attribution that the analogues were designed upon the structure of chalcone and combretastatin A-4.