Synthesis, biological evaluation and in silico investigations of benzotriazole derivatives as potential inhibitors of NIMA related kinase

Abstract

In the current study, a novel compound, bis(3-(2H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-2-yl)-2-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)-5-(2,4,4-trimethylpentan-2-yl)phenyl)methane (TAJ1), has been synthesized by the reaction of 6,6′-methylenebis(2-(2H-benzo[d][1,2,3]triazol-2-yl)-4-(2,4,4-trimethylpentan-2-yl)phenol) (1), propargyl bromide (2) and potassium carbonate. Spectroscopic (FTIR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR) and single-crystal assays proved the structure of the synthesized sample. XRD analysis confirmed the structure of the synthesized compound, showing that it possesses two aromatic parts linked via a –CH₂ carbon with a bond angle of 108.40°. The cell line activity reported a percent growth reduction for different cell types (HeLa cells, MCF-7 cells, and Vero cells) under various treatment conditions (TAJ1, cisplatin, and doxorubicin) after 24 hours and 48 hours. The percent growth reduction represents a decrease in cell growth compared to a control condition. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were utilized to examine the frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) and overall chemical reactivity descriptors of TAJ1. The molecule's chemical reactivity and stability were assessed by determining the HOMO–LUMO energy gap. TAJ1 displayed a HOMO energy level of −0.224 eV, a LUMO energy level of −0.065 eV, and a HOMO–LUMO gap of 0.159 eV. Additionally, molecular docking analysis was performed to assess the binding affinities of TAJ1 with various proteins. The compound TAJ1 showed potent interactions with NEK2, exhibiting −10.5 kcal mol⁻¹ binding energy. Although TAJ1 has demonstrated interactions with NEK7, NEK9, TP53, NF-KAPPA-B, and caspase-3 proteins, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic agent, it is important to evaluate the conformational stability of the protein–ligand complex. Hence, molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to assess this stability. To analyze the complex, root mean square deviation (RMSD) and root mean square fluctuation analyses were performed. The results of these analyses indicate that the top hits obtained from the virtual screening possess the ability to act as effective NEK2 inhibitors. Therefore, further investigation of the inhibitory potential of these identified compounds using in vitro and in vivo approaches is recommended.