Design, synthesis and evaluation of azaacridine derivatives as dual-target EGFR and Src kinase inhibitors for antitumor treatment

Abstract Overexpression of EGFR is often associated with advanced stage disease and poor prognosis. In certain cancers, Src works synergistically with EGFR to promote proliferation, survival, invasion and metastasis. Development of dual-target drugs against EGFR and Src is of therapeutic advantage against these cancers. Based on molecular docking and our previous studies, we rationally designed a new series of azaacridine derivatives as potent EGFR and Src dual inhibitors. Most of the synthesized azaacridines displayed good antiproliferative activity against K562 and A549 cells. The representative compound 13b showed nM IC 50 values against K562 and A549 cells, and inhibited EGFR at inhibition rate of 33.53% at 10 μM and Src at inhibition rate of 72.12% at 1 μM. Furthermore, compound 13b could inhibit the expression of EGFR, p-EGFR, Src and p-Src. Moreover, 13b efficiently inhibited the invasion of tumor cells and induced cancer cells apoptosis. Our study suggested that azaacridine scaffold can be developed as novel multi-target kinase inhibitors for cancer therapy.