Two new 4-methylcoumarin derivatives (3a-f and 4a-f) were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their cytotoxic activity. Different spectroscopic methods and elemental analyses confirmed all the synthesized derivatives' characterization. All the prepared compounds were biologically screened against four cancer cell lines (hepatocellular carcinoma HepG-2, colon cancer cell lines HCT-116, breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, and prostate cancer cell lines PC3). The in vitro antiproliferative activity of the target analogues 4b, 4c, 4f, 3b, and 3d against the MCF-7 cancer cell line was significant, with IC50 values of 3.98, 7.80, 10.94, 17.7, and 24.07 μM, respectively. Furthermore, the potent cytotoxic oxime derivative 4b was evaluated for cell cycle analysis showing a significant substantial disruption in cell cycle profile and cell cycle arrest at the S phase boundary with a time-dependent rise in a pre-G cell population, as well as a 22-fold increase in MCF-7 apoptosis compared to control cells. Accordingly, the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, a critical ratio in controlling cell sensitivity to apoptosis, increased upon treatment with the oxime analog 4b. A docking investigation was conducted within the BcL-2 binding site to explore and anticipate the binding modes of the synthesized compounds. Thus, synthesizing these novel coumarin/nitric oxide hybrids may aid in developing promising antiproliferative agents.
Keywords: Antiproliferative agents; Bax; BcL-2; Cell cycle arrest, apoptosis; Coumarins; NO donors.
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