Sulfonamide derivatives containing dihydropyrazole moieties selectively and potently inhibit MMP-2/MMP-9: Design, synthesis, inhibitory activity and 3D-QSAR analysis

New series of sulfonamide derivatives containing a dihydropyrazole moieties inhibitors of MMP-2/MMP-9 were discovered using structure-based drug design. Synthesis, antitumor activity, structure-activity relationship and optimization of physicochemical properties were described. In vitro the bioassay results revealed that most target compounds showed potent inhibitory activity in the enzymatic and cellular assays. Among the compounds, compound 3i exhibited the most potent inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 0.21 μM inhibiting MMP-2 and 1.87 μM inhibiting MMP-9, comparable to the control positive compound CMT-1 (1.26 μM, 2.52 μM). Docking simulation was performed to position compound 3i into the MMP-2 active site to determine the probable binding pose. Docking simulation was further performed to position compound 3i into the MMP-2 active site to determine the probable binding model the 3D-QSAR models were built for reasonable design of MMP-2/MMP-9 inhibitors at present and in future.