Design, synthesis and Molecular modeling study of certain EGFR inhibitors with a quinazolinone scaffold as anti-hepatocellular carcinoma and Radio-sensitizers

Abstract

A set of novel N-substituted-2-((4-oxo-3-phenyl-3,4-dihydroquinazolin-2-yl)thio)acetamide 3–16 were designed and synthesized from 2-mercapto-3-phenylquinazolinone 2. The targeted compounds were screened for their cytotoxic activity against the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG-2. Compounds 8, 9, 10, and 11 with IC50 values of 1.11, 4.28, 5.70, and 4.69 µM, respectively, showed 5.7- to 28-fold higher activities than the positive control doxorubicin (IC50 32.02 µM). Furthermore, compounds 8 and 9 were tested for EGFR inhibitory activity and demonstrated IC50 values of 73.23 and 58.26 µM, respectively, when compared to erlotinib‘s IC50 value of 9.79 µM. The most potent compounds, 8 and 9, were subjected to a single dose of 8 Gy of γ-radiation, and their cytotoxic efficacy was found to increase after irradiation, demonstrating the synergistic effect of γ-irradiation. Molecular docking was adopted for the most active compounds to confirm their mode of action.