Imidazoles as Potential Anticancer Agents: An Update on Recent Studies

Area of Science:

• Medicinal Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Nitrogen-containing heterocycles, particularly imidazole and fused imidazole rings, are prevalent in marketed drugs.
• These structures possess unique properties like high polarity and hydrogen bonding capabilities, enabling interaction with biomolecules.
• Imidazole derivatives exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities, including significant anticancer potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in imidazole and fused imidazole derivatives as anticancer agents.
• To summarize findings from peer-reviewed literature published between 2018 and 2020.
• To provide an overview of imidazole-based anticancer drug discovery and inspire future research.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of peer-reviewed articles from 2018-2020.
• Analysis of imidazole/fused imidazole derivatives reported to have anticancer activity.
• Identification of targeted biomolecules and structure-activity relationships.

Main Results:

• Imidazole/fused imidazole derivatives modulate various anticancer targets, including microtubules, kinases (tyrosine and serine-threonine), histone deacetylases, p53-Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2) protein, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and G-quadruplexes.
• Compounds with anticancer activity via undefined mechanisms were also identified.
• Key structure-activity relationships were described for these anticancer agents.

Conclusions:

• Imidazole and fused imidazole scaffolds are versatile platforms for developing novel anticancer drugs.
• Recent research demonstrates the potential of these compounds in targeting diverse cancer-related pathways.
• Further exploration of imidazole derivatives holds promise for future anticancer drug discovery and development.