A series of hydrazone-Schiff base derivatives of polyhydroquinoline (PHQ) nucleus have been synthesized, structurally deduced by NMR (13C- and 1H-) and HR-ESI-MS spectroscopic methods and finally subjected for anti-cancer and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. The MTT assay's results exposed that these eight compounds (2j, 2u, 2t, 2w, 2s, 2r, 2x, and 2d) presented notable activity against breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells having IC50 in the range of 11.4 ± 0.2 to 15.1 ± 0.4 µM, while the remaining fourteen compounds displayed significant to good anti-breast cancer activity. In case of α-glucosidase inhibition, eight compounds (2n, 2j, 2e, 2o, 2w, 2q, 2v, and 2l) exhibited superior inhibition against α-glucosidase enzyme with IC50 values ranging from 8.72 ± 0.14 to 16.16 ± 0.17 µM, compare with the standard acarbose. Additionally, the remaining eighteen derivatives showed significant to least inhibitory activity. The in silico docking, and molecular dynamic displayed the minimal divergence in MM-PBSA values for 2n, 2j, 2e, and 2o which suggests a strong and stable interaction with the protein's amino acid backbone. Pharmacokinetic profiles and anti-glucosidase ability suggested them as potential drug candidates for further studies.
Read full abstract