Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking studies of pyrazolyl-acylhydrazone derivatives as novel anticancer agents

A series of pyrazolyl-acylhydrazone derivatives (1e–20e) have been designed and synthesized and their biologic activities were also evaluated for telomerase inhibition and tumor cell antiproliferation. Among all the compounds, 12e showed the most potent activity in vitro, which inhibited the growth of MCF-7 and B16-F10 cell lines with IC50 values of 0.57 ± 0.03 and 0.49 ± 0.07 μM, respectively. Compound 12e also exhibited significant telomerase inhibitory activity (IC50 = 1.9 ± 0.43 μM). The result of flow cytometry demonstrated that compound 12e induced cell apoptosis. Docking simulation was performed to insert compound 12e into the crystal structure of telomerase at ATP binding site to determine the probable binding model. Based on the preliminary results, compound 12e with potent inhibitory activity in tumor growth may be a potential anticancer agent.