Target cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) inhibitors; 5-([2,5-Dihydroxybenzyl]amino)salicylamides (Compounds 1–11) were examined for potential anticancer activity, with a trial to assess the underlying possible mechanisms. Compounds were assessed at a single dose against 60 cancer cell lines panel and those with the highest activity were tested in the five-dose assay. COMPARE analysis was conducted to explore potential mechanisms underlying their biological activity. In vitro epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitory activity was performed, as well as cell cycle and apoptosis assays, in addition to molecular docking to rationalize the potential of these compounds as potent EGFR inhibitors. The compounds revealed broad-spectrum anticancer activity against most cancer cell lines, particularly those of leukemia. Compound 9 showed the maximum growth inhibition (99.65%) against leukemia HL-60 (TB) cell line. Compound 5 produced the uppermost cytotoxic activity (62.28%) against non-small cell lung cancer cell line (NCI-H522), and the most potent antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities against the same cell line in the five-dose assay. Flow cytometry of cell cycle distribution on NCI-H522 showed arrest of cells at different phases of the cycle by Compounds 4, 5, 9–11. These compounds induced apoptosis in NCI-H522, particularly Compounds 4 and 5. They showed a remarkable in vitro EGFR inhibitory activity that was comparable to erlotinib, and a predicted ADME pharmacokinetic profile. In conclusion, the N-substituted aminosalicylamides exhibited considerable anticancer activity. The pattern of N-substitution is important in their activity. The compounds exhibited polypharmacology; one of the targets is the EGFR, as supported by molecular docking.

Finding effective and selective anticancer agents is a top medical priority due to high clinical treatment demand. However, current anticancer agents have serious side effects and resistance development remains a big concern. This creates an urgent need for new multitarget drugs that could solve these problems. Tetrahydrocarbazoles and 5-arylidene-4-thiazolinones have always attracted researchers for their multifaced anticancer activities and the possibility to be easily derivatized. Thereby, herein we report the combination of the two scaffolds to provide compounds 9a-j and 10a-j that were fully characterized and their tautomeric form was confirmed by crystal structure. 9a-j and 10a-j were assessed for in vitro antiproliferative activity using SRB assay against a panel of seven human cancer cell lines with doxorubicin as the standard. The results revealed that the cell lines derived from leukemia (Jurkat) and lymphoma (U937) are the most sensitive. Compounds 9d, 10e, 10g, and 10f revealed the highest potency (IC₅₀ = 3.11–11.89 μM) with much lower effects on normal lymphocytes cell line (IC₅₀ > 50 µM). The results show that modifications at 6th position of the THC and the nature of the substituent at the arylidene moiety affect the activity. To exploit the mode of action, 9d, 10e, 10f, and 10g were evaluated as VEGFR-2 and EGFR inhibitors. 10e is the most potent (IC₅₀ 0.26 and 0.14 μM) against both enzymes. It also induced G0-G1-phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. While 10g exhibited higher potency (IC₅₀ 9.95 μM) than vincristine (IC₅₀ 15.63 μM) against tubulin. A molecular docking study was carried out to understand the interactions between 10e, 10g and their targets. This study reveals 10e and 10g as possible candidates for developing multitarget anticancer agents against leukemia and lymphoma.

CD22 (also known as Siglec-2) is an inhibitory receptor expressed in B cells. CD22 specifically recognizes α2,6 sialic acid and interacts with α2,6 sialylated membrane proteins expressed on the same cell (cis-ligands) and those derived from outside of the cell (trans-ligands). Previously, CD22 cis-ligands were shown to regulate the activity of CD22, thereby regulating both BCR ligation-induced signaling and low-level “tonic” signaling in the absence of BCR ligation that regulates the survival and differentiation of B cells. Mouse CD22 prefers Neu5Gc to Neu5Ac thereby binding to α2,6-linked Neu5Gc with high affinity. Although human CD22 binds to a distinct α2,6 sialylated glycan with high affinity, expression of high-affinity ligands is regulated in a conserved and stringent manner. However, how high- versus low-affinity CD22 ligands regulate B cells is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that the interaction of CD22 with the endogenous ligands enhances BCR ligation-induced signaling but reduces tonic signaling in Cmah^−/− mouse B cells deficient in Neu5Gc as well as wild-type B cells. Moreover, Cmah^−/− B cells do not show alterations in the phenotypes correlated to tonic signaling. These results indicate that low-affinity interaction of the CD22 cis-ligands with CD22 is sufficient for the regulation of B cell signaling, and suggest that expression of high-affinity CD22 ligands might be involved in the regulation of B cells by competing for the binding of CD22 with exogenous trans-ligands of CD22.

The development of hybrid compounds has been widely considered as a promising strategy to circumvent the difficulties that emerge in cancer treatment. The well-established strategy of adding acetyl groups to certain drugs has been demonstrated to enhance their therapeutic efficacy. Based on our previous work, an approach of accommodating two chemical entities into a single structure was implemented to synthesize new acetylated hybrids (HH32 and HH33) from 5-aminosalicylic acid and 4-thiazolinone derivatives. These acetylated hybrids showed potential anticancer activities and distinct metabolomic profile with antiproliferative properties. The in-silico molecular docking predicts a strong binding of HH32 and HH33 to cell cycle regulators, and transcriptomic analysis revealed DNA repair and cell cycle as the main targets of HH33 compounds. These findings were validated using in vitro models. In conclusion, the pleiotropic biological effects of HH32 and HH33 compounds on cancer cells demonstrated a new avenue to develop more potent cancer therapies.