Abstract
Four new nicotinamide-based derivatives were designed as antiangiogenic VEGFR-2 inhibitors. The congeners were synthesized possessing the pharmacophoric essential features to bind correctly with the VEGFR-2 active pocket. All members were evaluated for their cytotoxic and VEGFR-2 inhibitory potentialities. Compound
6
was the most potent showingIC
50
values of 9.3 ± 0.02 and 7.8 ± 0.025 µM against HCT-116 and HepG-2 cells, respectively, and IC
50
of 60.83 nM regarding VEGFR-2 enzyme inhibition. Compound
6
arrested the growth of HCT-116 cells at the pre-G1 and G2-M phases. Further, it induced both early and late apoptosis. Additionally, compound
6
caused a significant decrease in TNF-
α
and IL6 by 66.42% and 57.34%, respectively. The considered compounds had similar docking performances to that of sorafenib against the VEGFR-2 (PDB ID: 2OH4). The correct binding of compound
6
with VEGFR-2 was validated using MD simulations, and MM-GPSA calculations.