Synthesis of salicylic acid phenylethyl ester (SAPE) and its implication in immunomodulatory and anticancer roles

Salicylic acid phenylethyl ester (SAPE) was synthesized by Zn(OTf)₂-catalyzed selective esterification of salicylic acid and phenylethyl alcohol and studied for its role as an immunomodulatory and anticancer agent. Low toxicity and favorable physical, Lipinski-type, and solubility properties were elucidated by ADME-tox studies. Molecular docking of SAPE against COX-2 revealed favorable MolDockscore, rerank score, interaction energy, internal pose energy, and hydrogen bonding as compared to ibuprofen and indomethacin. An average RMSD of ~ 0.13 nm for the docked complex with stable dynamic equilibrium condition was noted during the 20 ns MD simulation. A low band gap predicting a strong binding affinity at the enzyme's active site was further predicted by DFT analysis. The ester caused a reduction in the percentage of erythrocyte hemolysis and was shown to be non-cytotoxic against human lymphocytes, CaCo-2, and HepG-2 cells by the MTT assay. Moreover, it's in vitro efficacy in inhibiting COX-2 enzyme under both LPS stimulated intestinal cells and direct sequestration assays was found to be higher than salicylic acid and indomethacin. The anticancer activity of SAPE was tested on the breast cancer cell line MCF-7, and potential efficacy was exhibited in terms of decreased cell viability. Flow cytometry analysis exhibited the arrest of the cell cycle at G1/G0 and S phases, during which induction of autophagic vesicle formation and decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential was observed owing to increased ROS production. Furthermore, at these phases, the onset of apoptosis along with DNA damage was also observed. Pre-treatment with SAPE in colitis-induced Wistar rats displayed low disease activity index and reduction in the extent of intestinal tissue disruption and lipid peroxidation. A marked increase of anti-oxidative enzymes viz., catalase, GGT, and GST, and a decrease of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α in the intestinal tissue extracts of the treated groups was noted. The results of this study have sufficient credence to support that the synthesised ester (SAPE) be considered as an anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory compound with therapeutic potential for the effective management of cancer.