Structural simplification of Osimertinib to elaborate new indolyle-pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile derivatives with Anti-proliferative and Anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities assisted by molecular dynamic simulation

Abstract

Based on the simplicity and modification of the medication osimertinib, two new series of indolyle-pyrimidine-5-carbonitrile scaffolds were created and synthesized with dual action as anti-SARS-Cov-2 and anticancer. The newly created heterocyclic compounds' chemical structures were effectively characterized. With IC50 values of 18.52, 20.89, and 19.85, respectively, compounds 9b, 10, and 15 had inhibitory actions against SARS-CoV-2 when compared to remdesivir and chloroquine, which served as pharmacological controls and had IC50 values of 3.38 μM and 24.9 μM, respectively.

Furthermore, compounds 9a and 13 showed anti-proliferative activity against HepG2 cell lines with IC_50s of 5.63 μM and 3.06 μM, respectively, in comparison to doxorubicin's IC₅₀ of 7.4 μM. qRT-PCR revealed that HepG2 cells treated with compounds 9a and 13 showed increased p53 expression levels and decreased CDK1 and PI3K expression levels in comparison to doxorubicin. Molecular dynamics simulations of 20 ns duration were performed with PI3Kα, PI3Kγ, and CDK and active compound complexes. The results confirm that compound 13 has the potential to be a therapeutic candidate for additional preclinical and clinical research, as indicated by the molecular docking data.