Azabenzimidazole-piperazine compounds as anticancer agents: Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking studies

AKYÜZ G., Caliskan N., EMİRİK M., Ilhan S., Atmaca H., Pulat C. C., ...Daha Fazla

JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR STRUCTURE, cilt.1358, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 1358
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.molstruc.2026.145323
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR STRUCTURE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Compendex, INSPEC
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The cytotoxic activities of the newly synthesized azabenzimidazole-piperazine hybrid compounds were evaluated against three human cancer cell lines-HCT116 (colon), PC-3 (prostate), and MCF-7 (breast)-as well as the non-cancerous human embryonic kidney cell line HEK-293. Among all tested candidates, compounds 6d, 6k, and 6l demonstrated the most pronounced anticancer activities, exhibiting IC50 values below 25 mu M across all three cancer cell lines. Notably, compound 6l inhibited HCT116, PC-3, and MCF-7 cells with IC50 values of 18.4 f 0.7 mu M, 15.2 f 0.4 mu M, and 14.4 f 0.2 mu M, respectively. Compound 6d showed even greater potency against MCF-7 cells (10.7 f 0.6 mu M) and exhibited comparable activity against HCT116 (14.0 f 0.4 mu M) and PC-3 (17.7 f 1.5 mu M) cells. Compound 6k also displayed significant cytotoxicity, with IC50 values of 24.8 f 1.6 mu M for HCT116, 18.7 f 0.8 mu M for PC-3, and 20.2 f 0.4 mu M for MCF-7 cells. The integration of in silico molecular docking results with in vitro cytotoxicity data strongly suggests that the synthesized compounds-particularly 6d, 6k, and 6l-exert their anticancer effects through a multifaceted mechanism of action.