Exploring the Antiproliferative Potential of Aurone Derivatives through In Vitro Assays and a Network Pharmacology Study

Abstract Aurones, a subclass of flavonoids, are recognized for their diverse biological activities, including anticancer properties. This study is focused on the synthesis and antiproliferative evaluation of a series of aurone derivatives to investigate their potential as anticancer chemotherapeutic agents. The synthesis of aurone derivatives is achieved via the mercuric acetate catalyzed condensation of appropriately substituted 2-hydroxychalcones. The aurone derivatives are evaluated in vitro against the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line and the H460 lung cancer cell line. The p-dimethylamino-substituted aurone derivative (Z)-2-(4-(dimethylamino)benzylidene)benzofuran-3(2H)-one demonstrates a moderate antiproliferative effect at a 200 μg/mL concentration against the tested cancer cell lines. Furthermore, an in silico network pharmacology study reveals various targets for the above aurone derivative, which has a potential role in cancer progression. Therefore, this study provides essential information to enable selection of a suitable target to design aurone derivatives using a molecular modeling approach.