Assessment of elementary derivatives of 1,5-benzodiazepine as anticancer agents with synergy potential

Herein, we designed and synthesized 1,5-benzodiazepines as a lead molecule for anticancer activity and as potent synergistic activity with drug Methotrexate. Working under the framework of green chemistry principles, series of 1,5-benzodiazepine derivatives (3a-3a¹) were synthesized using biocatalyst i.e. thiamine hydrochloride under solvent free neat heat conditions. These compounds were screened for in vitro anti cancer activity against couple of cancer cell lines (HeLa and HEPG2) and normal human cell line HEK-293 via MTT assay. The IC₅₀ values for the compounds were in the range 0.067 to 0.35 µM, better than Paclitaxel and compatible with the drug Methotrexate. Compound 3x was found to be influential against both the cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 0.067 ± 0.002 µM against HeLa and 0.087 ± 0.003 µM against HEPG2 cell line, having activity as compatible to the standard drug Methotrexate. Bioinformatic analysis showed that these compounds are good tyrosine kinase inhibitors which was then proved using enzyme inhibition assay. The studies of apoptosis revealed late apoptotic mode of cell death for the compounds against HEPG2 cancer cell line using flow cytometry method. Synergistic studies of compound 3x and drug Methotrexate showed that the combination was highly active against cancer HeLa and HEPG2 cell line with IC50 value 0.046 ± 0.002 µM and 0.057 ± 0.002 µM respectively, which was well supported by apoptosis pathway. Further the compounds proved its scope as DNA intercalating agents, as its molecular docking and DNA binding studies revealed that the compounds would fit well into the DNA strands.