Targeting TACE in breast cancer: exploring the therapeutic potential of cinnoline derivatives through computational and experimental approaches

Women throughout the world experience breast cancer as the leading type of malignancy and their numbers continue to increase as mortality numbers remain high especially throughout developing nations. Breast cancer progression depends heavily on TACE/ADAM17 to activate epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) thus promoting tumor expansion and metastatic activity. Medical researchers have identified TACE inhibition as an effective way to control tumor expansion and bypass drug obstacles. Cinnoline represents a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound that shows significant anticancer activity thus qualifying as a promising target therapy agent. This research investigates the therapeutic value of cinnoline derivatives for TACE inhibitor treatment in breast cancer patients using computational methods and laboratory experiments. Scientists produced novel compounds of 3-acetyl-6-(substituted benzoyl) cinnolin-4(1 H)-one C10 derivatives through characterizations which included FTIR, NMR, and mass spectrometry analysis. The evaluation of TACE binding potential used both molecular docking techniques and molecular dynamics simulations. A MTT cytotoxicity assay performed on MCF-7 breast cancer cells helped examine the anticancer properties. The pharmacokinetic characteristics together with drug-likeness assessment of compounds were determined through ADMET predictions. The study shows promising potential of cinnoline derivatives to function as future potent drug candidates for breast cancer treatment that specifically targets TACE. Ongoing research with cinnoline derivatives will need to test their therapeutic efficacy as well as determine optimal pharmaceutical characteristics for medical use.