Synthesis, in silico ADME, Molecular Docking and in vitro Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Indolin-2-one linked Stilbene Derivatives

Considering the potential of stilbene derivatives as biologically active frameworks in cancer research, the synthesis of several indole-2-one linked stilbenes was proposed as evaluate their cytotoxic effects on cancer cells. To develop some indole-2-one linked stilbene analogs as lead molecule against cancer, novel indole-2-one linked derivatives (BK 1-11) were synthesized by reacting 4-formyl-trans-stilbene with 2-oxindole in methanol. The structural characterizations were performed by FTIR, NMR and mass techniques. Molecular docking was performed on the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) receptor (Pdb ID: 4Z32), with binding energies expressed in kcal/mol. All the synthesized compounds were screened for their cytotoxicity against MCF, HCT116 and HeLa cells taking 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and resveratrol as reference. Among tested derivatives, compound BK-6 was found to be most potent against all the three cell lines with IC50 of 48-64 µM and 49.92% cell viability after 72 h of treatment. A low to moderate aqueous solubility was predicted by Swiss-ADME web-tool. The docking score and cytotoxicity data suggest compound BK-6 as a potential molecule against MCF cancer cells. However, further biological studies require to support the cytotoxicity and in silico results.