Bio-evaluation of the 2-nitrochalcones as potential anti-lung cancer agents, inducers of apoptosis and inhibitors of protein kinase (VEGFR-2)

A series of the 2-nitrochalcones 3a – 3k was synthesized and evaluated for cytotoxicity against the human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) and human embryonic kidney (HEK293-T) cell lines using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The 3-(4-fluorophenyl) 3c and the 3-(4-(1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethoxy)phenyl derivative 3k induced early (25–29%) and late (48–60%) apoptosis of A549 cells as determined by the Annexin V-FITC/PI method. The 3-(4-fluorophenyl) 3c , 3-(4-methoxyphenyl) 3h , 3-(2,3,4-trimethoxyphenyl) 3j and the 3-(4-(1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethoxy)phenyl derivative 3k were also found to exhibit significant inhibitory activity against vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) tyrosine kinase compared to staurosporine (0.035 ± 0.002 µM) or nintedanib (IC 50 = 0.021 ± 0.001 µM) with IC 50 values of 31.49 ± 0.02, 39.95 ± 0.17, 36.90 ± 0.16 and 29.10 ± 0.16 µM, respectively. Molecular docking studies were also conducted on 3c and 3k as representative models to recognize the hypothetical binding motif of the title compounds within the active site of VEGFR-2.