Epigenetic modulation and apoptotic induction by a novel imidazo-benzamide derivative in human lung adenocarcinoma cells

Purpose Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed and leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Imidazo-benzamides are considered to be good anti-cancer agents. The present study was aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of a novel imidazo-benzamide derivative N-(2-(3-(tert-butyl)ureido)ethyl)-4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzamide (TBUEIB) in lung cancer cell line A549. Methods The antiproliferative activity of TBUEIB was investigated using MTT, LDH and trypan blue assay. The apoptotic potential was investigated using various staining techniques and further confirmed by DNA fragmentation assay and western blotting. Results TBUEIB inhibited fifty precent A549 cells at a dose of 106 μM. The novel compound was found to exert a modulatory effect on apoptotic marker caspase-3 as well as epigenetic regulatory proteins like DNA Methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). In silico studies with the compound and other epigenetic proteins such as Histone deacetylase (HDAC) and ubiquitin-like with PHD (plant homeodomain) and RING (Really Interesting New Gene) finger domains 1(UHRF1) showed good modulatory effects. Conclusion The overall results obtained in the study conclude that the novel compound TBUEIB has potential anti-cancer activities, mainly by targeting the expression of DNMT1 enzyme, which may have re-activated the major tumor suppressor genes involved in the cell cycle, leading to the apoptosis of the cancer cells. The results also indicate that the compound has more than one target in the epigenetic pathway implying that the compound may be a potential multi-target compound. Graphical abstract