Synthesis, anticancer activity and molecular modeling studies of novel chalcone derivatives containing indole and naphthalene moieties as tubulin polymerization inhibitors

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Eighteen novel chalcone derivatives containing indole and naphthalene moieties (2-19) were synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and HRMS spectra. All compounds were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic potential against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), human colon carcinoma (HCT116) and human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell lines. Among them, compound 2, 3, 4 and 7 showed potent activities against tested cancer cell lines. More significantly, compound 7 exhibited the most potent cytotoxic activity against HepG2, HCT116 and MCF-7 with IC₅₀ values of 0.65, 1.13 and 0.82 μM, respectively. Furthermore, flow cytometry analysis indicated that compound 7 arrested cancer cells in G2/M phase. The compound 7 also displayed significant inhibition of tubulin polymerization (IC₅₀ = 3.9 µM). Finally, molecular docking studies were performed to explore the possible interactions between compound 7 and tubulin binding pockets.