The evaluation of the anti-Histone deacetylase, antibacterial, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of synthetic N,N´-ethylenebis(α methylsalicylideneiminate) Schiff base derivatives

Recently, Schiff base complexes as synthetic antioxidants are widely used instead of natural antioxidants because they are effective and cheaper. In this study, a series of α,ά-Me2-salen, (N,N´-ethylenebis(α methylsalicylideneiminate)) Schiff base derivatives have been investigated toward their anti-histone deacetylase (HDAC), anticancer, antibacterial and antioxidant activities. For anti HDAC studies, AUTODOCK 4.1 and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation have been conducted against these combinations. Cytotoxic test, ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and (2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) ABTS assays and Agar diffusion method have been applied to investigate anticancer, antioxidant and antibacterial activities, respectively. Based on the results, the best docking was obtained for α,ά-Me2-salen against HDAC. Also, MD calculation results demonstrated that the α,ά-Me2-salen is more effective compound for HDAC inhibiting than SAHA as a known enzyme inhibitor. However, α,ά-Me2-salen and its derivatives didn't display antibacterial activity against any of the microorganisms. Cytotoxic activity analysis toward MCF 7 cell line were apparent that α,ά-Me2-salen and its Ni (II), Co (II), and Cu (II) derivatives manifested high cytotoxic activity with IC50 5, 2, 2 and 3 µg ml−1, respectively. The antioxidant results were revealed excellent radical scavenging activities of all these compounds against DPPH, ABTS and FRAP radicals. The antioxidant activity by DPPH, showed Mn(II) complex (IC50 = 0.13 ± 0.50 mg/ml) was the most active. While, α,ά-Me2-salen (IC50 =0.05±0.003 mg/ml) and its Ni(II) derivative (IC50 =0.049 mg/ml) exhibited the highest ABTS scavenging activity. According to results, all compounds show acceptable anticancer and antioxidant activity and can be used as drug candidates after further investigations.