Design, synthesis and anticancer evaluation of 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives as potent EGFRWT and EGFRT790M inhibitors and apoptosis inducers

Abstract

In our attempt to develop effective EGFR-TKIs, two series of 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives were designed and synthesized. All the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated in vitro for their inhibitory activities against EGFRWT. Compounds 15b, 15j, and 18d potently inhibited EGFRWT at sub-micro molar IC50 values comparable to that of erlotinib. Moreover, thirteen compounds that showed promising IC50 values against EGFRWT were tested in vitro for their inhibitory activities against mutant EGFRT790M. Compounds 17d and 17f exhibited potent inhibitory activities towards EGFRT790M comparable to osimertinib. Compounds that showed promising IC50 values against EGFRWT were further tested for their anti-proliferative activities against three cancer cell lines bearing EGFRWT (MCF-7, HepG2, A549), and two cancer cell lines bearing EGFRT790M (H1975 and HCC827). Compounds 15g, 15j, 15n, 18d and 18e were the most potent anticancer agents against the EGFRWT containing cells, while compounds 15e, 17d and 17f showed promising anti-proliferative activities against EGFRT790M containing cells. Furthermore, the most active compound 18d was selected for further studies regarding to its effects on cell cycle progression and induction of apoptosis in the HepG2 cell line. The results indicated that this compound is good apoptotic agent and arrests G0/G1and G2/M phases of cell cycle. Finally, molecular docking studies were performed to investigate binding pattern of the synthesized compounds with the prospective targets, EGFRWT (PDB: 4HJO) and EGFRT790M (PDB: 3W2O).