Synthesis and evaluation of new 4(3H)-Quinazolinone derivatives as potential anticancer agents

A series of new 4(3H)-quinazolinones were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against a set of human cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 (breast), HCT-116 and HT-29 (colon) and A549 (lung). Among the tested compounds, 22a exhibited promising cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231 (IC50: 3.21 μM) and HT-29 (IC50: 7.23 μM) cell lines. The mechanism of action and the apoptosis inducing effect of the compound 22a were studied using the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Treatment of MDA-MB-231 cell line with compound 22a showed typical apoptotic morphology like cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation and horseshoe shaped nuclei formation. Flow cytometric analysis indicated that the compound induces G0/G1 phase of cell cycle arrest in a dose dependent manner. The binding modes of the potent compounds with EGFR target protein were investigated by docking studies.