Synthesis, in vitro Cytotoxicity Evaluation, and Docking Studies of Gloriosine Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents

In the present work, series of C10-amine and amide derivatives of gloriosine were synthesized and evaluated for in vitro cytotoxic activity against a panel of six human cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, U87, FaDu, SiHa, A549, and MCF-7) of multiple tissue origin. The synthesized compounds were characterized by 1H and 13C NMR and MS experiments. In vitro cytotoxicity study showed that most of the C10-amine derivatives demonstrated superior activity in two of the tested cell lines, namely U87 and FaDu cell lines, while C10-amide derivatives showed poor activity in all the cell lines. The C10-amine derivatives were subjected to molecular docking studies to explore their possible binding interactions with colchicine binding site of tubulin protein, and in-silico ADME profiling to study the drug-likeness. The C10-amine derivatives may be less toxic than gloriosine towards normal cells and may provide the lead for anticancer drug development.