Discovery of aromatic amides with triazole-core as potent reversal agents against P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance

[Display omitted] •Novel aromatic amides with triazole-core were synthesized.•The novel compounds were screened for intrinsic cytotoxicity and reversal activity.•Compound 42 had high reversing potency and long activity duration.•Compound 42 suppressed P-gp function, while had no effect on CYP3A4 activity. P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major impediment for clinical cancer therapy. 19 novel aromatic amides with triazole-core as MDR reversal agents were designed and synthesized via click chemistry to reverse MDR. Among them, compound 42 was identified as the most promising candidate with high potency (EC50 = 78.1 ± 5.4 nM), low cytotoxity (SI > 1282) and persistent duration in reversing doxorubicin (DOX) resistance in K562/A02 cells. 42 also enhanced the potency of other P-gp associated cytotoxic agents with different structures. In further study, remarkably increased intracellular accumulation of Rh123 and DOX in K562/A02 cells was achieved by compound 42, while CYP3A4 activity had no change by compound 42. These results indicate that compound 42 as a relatively safe modulator of P-gp-mediated MDR has good potential for further development.