Synthesis and chemical characterization of N10-substituted acridones as reversers of multidrug resistance in cancer cells

Synthesis of different N-10-substituted-4-methyl acridones are described. The compounds are prepared with varying alkyl side chain length with propyl and butyl substitution and a tertiary amine group at the terminal end of the alkyl side chain. The structural requirement of in-vitro anti-cancer and reversal of drug resistance are studied. These compounds have been tested against the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MCF7/Adr. The results show that compound 17 with four carbon spacer exhibited promising in-vitro anti-cancer and reversal of drug resistance in comparison to the other analogues. The studies show that the reversal of drug resistance is by P-gp inhibition.