Development of certain benzylidene coumarin derivatives as anti-prostate cancer agents targeting EGFR and PI3Kβ kinases

Abstract

Novel coumarin derivatives were synthesised and tested for their cytotoxicity against human cancer cells (PC-3 and MDA-MB-231). Compounds <b>5</b>, <b>4b</b>, and <b>4a</b> possessed potent cytotoxic activity against PC-3 cells with IC₅₀ 3.56, 8.99, and 10.22 µM, respectively. Compound <b>4c</b> displayed cytotoxicity more than erlotinib in the MDA-MB-231 cells with IC₅₀ 8.5 µM. Moreover, compound <b>5</b> exhibited potent inhibitory activity on EFGR with IC₅₀ 0.1812 µM, as well as PI3Kβ inhibitory activity that was twofold higher than LY294002, suggesting that this compound has a dual EGFR and PI3Kβ inhibiting activity. Docking aligns with the <i>in vitro</i> results and sheds light on the molecular mechanisms underlying dual targeting. Furthermore, compound <b>5</b> decreased AKT and m-TOR expression in PC-3 cells, showing that it specifically targets these cells via the EGFR/PI3K/Akt/m-TOR signalling pathway. Simultaneously, compound <b>5</b> caused cell cycle arrest at S phase and induced activation of both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways.