Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives as VEGFR-2 and EGFRT790M dual inhibitors: design, docking, ADMET, synthesis and anticancer evaluations

Abstract

Novel pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives have been designed, synthesized and examined as inhibitors of both EGFR^T790M and VEGFR-2. These compounds exhibit anticancer activities against HCT-116, MCF-7, HepG2 and A549 cancer cell lines. Docking studies were carried out to identify how the proposed molecules interact with both VEGFR-2 and EGFR^T790M. The results of the docking studies showed excellent correlation with the biological screening results. Derivatives 7c, 8b, 7e and 8c exhibit very good anticancer activities against A549, with IC₅₀ values of 5.75, 6.20, 6.55 and 7.10 µM, respectively. Molecules 7c, 8b, 7e, 8c, 7d and 7b showed IC₅₀ values of 5.50, 5.80, 6.15, 7.00, 9.40 and 9.50 µM, respectively, against HCT-116, establishing remarkable anticancer activities, while derivatives 7c, 8b, 7e and 8c showed potent anticancer activities against MCF-7, with IC₅₀ values of 5.90, 6.40, 7.00 and 7.90 µM, respectively. Moreover, molecules 7c, 8b, 7e and 8c, with corresponding IC₅₀ values of 5.00, 5.30, 5.75 and 8.80 µM, demonstrated the highest anticancer activities against HepG2. The particularly active molecules 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e, 8b and 8c were tested against VERO normal cell lines, and their low toxicity was established by IC₅₀ values ranging from 40.00 to 53.99 µM. Furthermore, all the derivatives were studied as inhibitors of both EGFR^T790M and VEGFR-2. Molecules 7c, 8b, 7e and 8c, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.90 to 1.25 µM, exhibited very good inhibition against VEGFR-2. In addition, molecules 7c, 8b, 7e, 7b and 8c, with IC₅₀ values of 0.25, 0.32, 0.35, 0.45 and 0.50 µM, respectively, displayed very good EGFR^T790M inhibition. Furthermore, molecules 7c, 7e and 8b exhibited excellent ADMET profile compared to sorafenib and erlotinib.