New pyrrolidine-carboxamide derivatives as dual antiproliferative EGFR/CDK2 inhibitors

Chem Biol Drug Des. 2024 Jan;103(1):e14422. doi: 10.1111/cbdd.14422.

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, making it a public health concern. A novel series of pyrrolidine-carboxamide derivatives 7a-q were developed and examined in a cell viability assay utilizing a human mammary gland epithelial cell line (MCF-10A), where all the compounds exhibited no cytotoxic effects and more than 85% cell viability at a concentration of 50 μM. Antiproliferative activity was evaluated in vitro against four panels of cancer cell lines A-549, MCF-7, Panc-1, and HT-29. Compounds 7e, 7g, 7k, 7n, and 7o were the most active as antiproliferative agents capable of triggering apoptosis. Compound 7g was the most potent of all the derivatives, with a mean IC50 of 0.90 μM compared to IC50 of 1.10 μM for doxorubicin. Compound 7g inhibited A-549 (epithelial cancer cell line), MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line), and HT-29 (colon cancer cell line) more efficiently than doxorubicin. EGFR inhibitory assay results of 7e, 7g, 7k, 7n, and 7o demonstrated that the tested compounds inhibited EGFR with IC50 values ranging from 87 to 107 nM in comparison with the reference drug erlotinib (IC50 = 80 nM). 7e, 7g, 7k, 7n, and 7o inhibited CDK2 efficiently in comparison to the reference dinaciclib (IC50 = 20 nM), with IC50 values ranging from 15 to 31 nM. The results of inhibitory activity assay against different CDK isoforms revealed that the tested compounds had preferential inhibitory activity against the CDK2 isoform.

Keywords: CDK; EGFR; antiproliferative; carboxamide; pyrrolidine; viability.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents* / pharmacology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2 / metabolism
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • ErbB Receptors / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Molecular Structure
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • ErbB Receptors
  • Doxorubicin
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • CDK2 protein, human
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2
  • EGFR protein, human