Design, Synthesis, and Cytotoxicity and Topoisomerase I/IIα Inhibition Activity of Pyrazolo[4,3-]quinoline Derivatives.

With the several targets of cancer treatment, inhibition of DNA topoisomerase activity is one of the well-known focuses in cancer chemotherapy. Here, we describe the design and synthesis of a novel series of pyrazolo[4,3-]quinolines with potential anticancer/topoisomerase inhibition activity. Forty newly designed pyrazolo[4,3-]quinoline derivatives were synthesized via inverse imino Diels-Alder reaction. The antiproliferative activity of the synthesized derivatives was initially measured in the human NUGC-3 cancer cell line. Then, the selected compounds , , , , , , , and with higher activity among tested compounds were screened against six cancer cell lines, including ACHN, HCT-15, MM231, NCI-H23, NUGC-3, and PC-3. The results demonstrated that the compounds , , and were most effective in all cancer cell lines exhibiting GI below 8 µM. Among them, showed an equivalent inhibition pattern of topoisomerase IIα activity to that of etoposide, positive control at a 100 µM dose.