New diarylureas and diarylamides containing 1,3,4-triarylpyrazole scaffold: Synthesis, antiproliferative evaluation against melanoma cell lines, ERK kinase inhibition, and molecular docking studies

Synthesis of a new series of diarylureas and diarylamides possessing 1,3,4-triarylpyrazole scaffold is described. Their in vitro antiproliferative activities against 9 human melanoma cell lines were tested. Compounds 12, 13, 15, and 21-23 showed the highest potency against A375P melanoma cell line. In addition, compounds 10-15 and 19-24 showed high potency over the NCI 8 tested melanoma cell-lines panel. The IC50 values for compound 23 were 0.36 μM and 0.84 μM over LOX IMVI and M14 cell lines, respectively. Compounds 21 and 23 showed high, dose-dependent inhibition of ERK kinase. Virtual screening was carried out through docking of compound 21 into the domain of V600E-B-RAF and the binding mode was studied. © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.