Targeting cancer through recently developed purine clubbed heterocyclic scaffolds: An overview

Cancer is the world's major health issue, scavenging lives of millions throughout the world. A number of anticancer drugs have figured prominently in the diagnosis and treatment of various malignancies. However, despite significant advances, medications produced have fallen short of expectations, and cancer research is now at a crossroads, necessitating a paradigm shift in designing of new anticancer agents with multitargeted effect which not only increases drug efficacy but also nullifies associated drug sideeffects. Purine moiety encom passes essential biomolecules like DNA, RNA, ATP, the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) coenzyme, alkaloids etc. Therefore, its synthetic derivatives and investigation are of tremendous interest in the development of associated effective medications. Purine possessing heterocyclic compounds can be honoured with considerable anticancer activities, and tampered with variety of sites wherein, numerous purine derivatives have already got approval to treat cancer. This article describes various hybrids of purine with other heterocyclic moieties as a novel anticancer medicine synthesized in the last decade in consideration for the challenge of drug resistance in cancer therapy. In the hunt for more successful and less hazardous treatment approaches, this paper illustrates numerous derivatives and hybrids of purine as anticancer medications along with possible structure-activity relationship studies, mechanistic studies, docking studies, and in silico findings. This article will be highly useful for the scientific community and offer perspectives that how these scaffolds as privileged structures might be exploited in the future for rational design and discovery of purine based anticancer agents.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Cancer is a global health issue that claims millions of lives worldwide. Despite advances in cancer research and the development of anticancer drugs, there is still a need for new agents with multitargeted effects and reduced side effects. This article discusses the synthesis and investigation of purine derivatives and their potential as effective anticancer medications. It provides valuable insights into the structure-activity relationship, mechanisms of action, and future prospects of purine-based anticancer agents. Rating: 8 out of 10.