Hybrid Imidazole-Pyridine Derivatives: An Approach to Novel Anticancer DNA Intercalators

Abstract

Lack of specificity and subsequent therapeutic effectiveness of antimicrobial and antitumoral drugs is a common difficulty in therapy. The aim of this study is to investigate, both by experimental and computational methods, the antitumoral and antimicrobial properties of a series of synthesized imidazole-pyridine derivatives. Interaction with three targets was discussed: Dickerson-Drew dodecamer (PDB id 2ADU), G-quadruplex DNA string (PDB id 2F8U) and DNA strain in complex with dioxygenase (PDB id 3S5A). Docking energies were computed and represented graphically. On them, a QSAR model was developed in order to further investigate the structure-activity relationship. Results showed that synthesized compounds have antitumoral and antimicrobial properties. Computational results agreed with the experimental data.

Keywords: Anticancer drugs; DNA intercalators; QSAR model; binding site; docking; hybrid imidazole-pyridine derivatives..