QSAR prediction, synthesis, anticancer evaluation, and mechanistic investigations of novel sophoridine derivatives as topoisomerase I inhibitors

Sophoridine, which is derived from the Leguminous plant Sophora alopecuroides L., has certain pharmacological activity as a new anticancer drug. Herein, a series of novel N-substituted sophoridine derivatives was designed, synthesized and evaluated with anticancer activity. Through QSAR prediction models, it was discovered that the introduction of a benzene ring as a main pharmacophore and reintroduced into a benzene in para position on the phenyl ring in the novel sophoridine derivatives improved the anticancer activity effectively. In vitro, 28 novel compounds were evaluated for anticancer activity against four human tumor cell lines (A549, CNE-2, HepG-2, and HEC-1-B). In particular, Compound 26 exhibited remarkable inhibitory effects, with an IC 50 value of 15.6 μM against HepG-2 cells, surpassing cis-Dichlorodiamineplatinum (II). Molecular docking studies verified that the derivatives exhibit stronger binding affinity with DNA topoisomerase I compared to sophoridine. In addition, 26 demonstrated significant inhibition of DNA Topoisomerase I and could arrest cells in G 0 /G 1 phase. This study provides valuable insights into the design and synthesis of N-substituted sophoridine derivatives with anticancer activity.