Design, Molecular Docking, and Biological Evaluation of Imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole Derivatives
The research includes all stages of development, which include designing, synthesizing, molecular docking work, and testing anticancer properties of imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole compounds (5A–5E). The molecular docking studies showed that the complex formed between the two proteins displayed strong binding capacity to epidermal growth factor receptor and estrogen receptor alpha. The researchers used the MTT assay to test the cytotoxic activity of synthesized compounds against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines, which demonstrated that cell viability decreased with increasing concentration. The compound 5E showed the strongest cytotoxic properties among all tested compounds, while 5C displayed the second-highest activity level based on its lowest IC₅₀ value. The flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that compound 5E caused cells to undergo apoptosis while blocking their normal cell cycle progression, which resulted in an increased SubG1 population. The studies revealed that compound 5E served as the main lead candidate for development as an anticancer drug.