Synthesis of 2-methyl N10-substituted acridones as selective inhibitors of multidrug resistance (MDR) associated protein in cancer cells.

A series of N10-substituted-2-methyl acridone derivatives are synthesized and are examined for its ability to reverse P-glycoprotein (P-gp) mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) in breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MCF-7/Adr. The structural requirement of in-vitro anti-cancer and reversal of drug resistance are studied. The results showed that compound 16 with four carbon spacer exhibited promising in-vitro anti-cancer and reversal of drug resistance in comparison to the other analogues.