PURPOSE: Anomalies of Akt regulation, including overexpression in lung cancer, impart resistance to conventional chemotherapy and radiation, thereby implicating this kinase as a therapeutic intervention point. A novel scaffold of Akt inhibitors was developed through virtual screening of chemical databases available at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Hyderabad, based on docking studies using Maestro. A benzothienopyrimidine derivative (BIA-6) was identified as a potential lead molecule that inhibited Akt1 enzyme activity with an IC50 of 256 nM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: BIA-6 was tested for in vitro Akt1 inhibition using a fluorescence resonance energy transfer kit. Anti-proliferative activity was tested in NCI-H460, A549, NCI-H1975, and NCI-H2170 cell lines. The effect of the compound on p-Akt (S473) was estimated. RESULTS: BIA-6 allosterically caused a dose dependent reduction of growth of cell lines with a half maximal growth inhibition (GI50) range of 0.49 muM to 6.6 muM. Cell cycle analysis indicated that BIA-6 caused a G1 phase arrest at < 100 nM but led to apoptosis at higher doses. BIA-6 also exhibited synergism with standard chemotherapeutic agents. CONCLUSION: BIA-6 is a novel, allosteric Akt inhibitor with potent anti-cancer activity in lung cancer cell lines, that effectively blocks the phosphoinositide-3 kinase/Akt pathway with a high margin selectivity towards normal cells.
Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Line ; Databases, Chemical ; Drug Synergism ; Drug Therapy ; Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer ; G1 Phase ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Mass Screening ; Phosphotransferases

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of halo substitution on disubstituted aryl semicarbazones on the anticonvulsant potential and model the activity based on quantum mechanics.

METHODSA series of twenty-six compounds of N(4)-(4-bromo-3-methylphenyl) semicarbazones were synthesized and evaluated for the anticonvulsant activity in the maximal electroshock seizure (MES) and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) seizure threshold tests. Some potential compounds were also tested in the subcutaneous strychnine (scSTY) and subcutaneous picrotoxin (scPIC) seizure threshold tests. The synthesized compounds were tested for behavioral impairment and CNS (central nervous system) depression in mice. Quantum mechanical modelling was carried out on these compounds to gain understanding on the structural features essential for activity.

RESULTSSome compounds possessed broad spectrum anticonvulsant activity as indicated by their effect in pentylenetetrazole, strychnine, picrotoxin and maximal electroshock seizures models in resemblance to other aryl semicarbazone derivatives reported earlier. The higher the difference in HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) and LUMO (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) energy levels was, the greater was the activity profile.

CONCLUSIONThe pharmacophoric requirements for compounds to exhibit anticonvulsant activity that includes one aryl unit in proximity to a hydrogen donor-acceptor domain and an electron donor have been justified with the molecular orbital surface analysis of the synthesized compounds.

Animals ; Anticonvulsants ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mice ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Structure ; Quantum Theory ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Semicarbazones ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Thermodynamics