https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1708-4066
Abstract
Aim: Selenium-based compounds have antitumor potential. We used a ligand-based virtual screening analysis to identify selenoglycolicamides with potential antitumor activity. Results & Conclusion: Compounds 3, 6, 7 and 8 were selected for in vitro cytotoxicity tests against various cell lines, according to spectrophotometry results. Compound 3 presented the best cytotoxicity results against a promyelocytic leukemia line (HL-60) and was able to induce cell death at a frequency similar to that observed for doxorubicin. The docking study showed that compound 3 has good interaction energies with the targets caspase-3, 7 and 8, which are components of the apoptotic pathway. These results suggested that selenium has significant pharmacological potential for the selective targeting of tumor cells, inducing molecular and cellular events that culminate in tumor cell death.
Graphical abstract
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the research and administrative staff in the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (Brazil) for their assistance.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors acknowledge CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; 88887.122971/2016-00) and Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE) for financial support. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.