New organoselenides (NSAIDs-Se derivatives) as potential anticancer agents: Synthesis, biological evaluation and in silico calculations

Herein we reported the synthesis of twenty new organoselenium compounds (2a-2j and 3a-3j) based on the hybridization of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) skeleton and organoselenium motif (-SeCN and -SeCF₃), the Anticancer activity was evaluated against four types of Cancer cell lines, Caco-2 (human colon adenocarcinoma cells), BGC-823 (human gastric Cancer cells), MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma cells), PC-3 (human prostatic Cancer cells). Interestingly, the introduction of the -SeCN or -SeCF₃ moiety in corresponding parent NSAIDs results in the significant effect on Cancer cell lines. Moreover, the most active compound 3a showed IC₅₀ values lower than 5 μM against the four Cancer cell lines, particularly to BGC-823 and MCF-7 with IC₅₀ values of 2.5 and 2.7 μM, respectively. Furthermore, three compounds 3a, 3g and 3i were selected to investigate their ability to induce Apoptosis in BGC-823 cells via modulating the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein, pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2) and proapoptotic Caspase-8 protein. The redox properties of the NSAIDs-Se derivatives prepared herein were conducted by 2, 2-didiphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), bleomycin dependent DNA damage and Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx)-like assays. Finally, molecular docking study revealed that an interaction with the active site of thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) and predicted the Anticancer activity of the synthesized candidates. Overall, these results could serve a promising launch point for further design of NSAIDs-Se derivatives as potential Anticancer agents.