“In-silico Design and Development of Novel Hydroxyurea Lipid Drug Conjugates for Breast Cancer Therapy Targeting PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway”

Abstract

Hydroxyurea (HU) has shown promise in breast cancer treatment, but its hydrophilic nature limits its efficacy. Therefore, conjugating HU with lipids could increase its liphophilicity and improve its cellular uptake, leading to increased efficacy and reduced toxicity. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is an attractive therapeutic target in cancer not only because it is the second most frequently altered pathway after p53, but also because it serves as a convergence point for many stimuli. The aim of this study is to design and develop novel hydroxyurea lipid drug conjugates for breast cancer therapy targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway using in-silico and in-vitro approaches. The conjugates are designed and docked with the proteins selected for each target like PI3K (PDB ID;2JDO), AKT (PDB ID;3APF), mTOR (PDB ID;4JST). The conjugates with higher docking scores are taken for ADME studies and molecular dynamics. Stearic, lauric, palmitic, myristic and linolenic acids have been used for the conjugation. The conjugates are synthesized and characterized. The HLB calculation and partition coefficient are carried out to find the improvement in liphophilicity of the conjugates compared to hydroxyurea. Finally, the in-vitro cytotoxicity studies are performed with MCF -7 cell lines and the compound HU-MA (hydroxyurea with myristic acid) with low IC₅₀ is considered as the compound having good activity with compound code. These conjugates have been shown to have improved drug solubility and better cellular uptake compared to free hydroxyurea, which can increase drug efficacy.

Key words

breast cancer - hydroxyurea - lipid conjugates - fatty acids - lipophilicity.

Publication History

Received: 24 August 2023

Accepted: 06 November 2023

Article published online:
11 January 2024

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