Discovery of chalcone-1,2,4-triazole derivatives with potent anti-tumor activity targeting Bcl-2: In vitro and in vivo evaluation.

Cancer is a major global health and economic problem, As one of the most aggressive and lethal malignancies, colon cancer ranks third worldwide in terms of both incidence and mortality. In this study, a series of new 1,2,4-triazole-chalcone derivatives were designed and synthesized, and the against HCT-116 cells (colon cancer) and A549 cells (lung cancer) proliferative activity of the target compounds was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Among them, the representative compound 11g showed the most antitumor activity with IC50 values 3.3 ± 0.9 μM in HCT-116 cells and 8.9 ± 1.4 μM in A549 cells. Mechanistically, microscale thermophoresis (MST) experiments and molecular docking results show that 11g could better bind to and inhibit the activity of Bcl-2 compared to chalcone. Additionally, the WB experiment showed that 11g could also reduce the expression of Bcl-2, thereby promoting the apoptosis of HCT-116 cells. Further drug-like properties, ADME-Tox prediction, pharmacokinetic profile and in vivo experiments have demonstrated that 11g has good medicinal properties. Collectively, we found that 11g could regulate apoptosis in HCT-116 cells and consequently inhibit tumor progression of colon cancer in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that 11g holds promise as a potential Bcl-2 targeted agent for colon cancer treatment and is worthy of further research.