Evaluation of Cytotoxicity and Molecular Docking Studies of Phthalimide and Naphthalimide Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents

Background and Objectives Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world after cardiovascular disease, so the aim of the present study was to investigate phthalimide and naphthalimide derivatives in order to develop anticancer compounds. Subjects and Methods In this study, the cytotoxic activity of six phthalimed and naphthalamide derivatives was evaluated using MTT method on three cancerous cell lines, including breast cancer (MCF-7), ovarian cancer (SKOV3) and lung cancer (A549) cell line. Molecular Docking studies were also performed to determine the binding energy and the compounds interaction with DNA as a possible target of these compounds. Results Based on MTT results, compound C1, a naphthalimide derivative, showed the highest cytotoxic activity. IC50 values of this compound against MCF-7, SKOV3 and A549 cancer cell lines were 1.7, 6.2 and 9.5 μM, respectively. Also, comparison of phthalimide and naphthalimide derivatives showed that compounds C1, C3, C5 with carboxyl group had better effects than other compounds, C2, C6, C4, which bearing 5-amidoisophthalic acid moiety. Conclusion In general, naphthalimide derivatives showed better cytotoxicity than phthalimide derivatives. Compound C1 has the highest cytotoxic activity on all three cancer cell lines and can be further studied in the development of new anti-cancer compounds.