Synthesis and antitumor activities evaluation of m-(4-morpholinoquinazolin-2-yl)benzamides in vitro and in vivo.

In the present study, a series of m-(4-morpholinoquinazolin-2-yl)benzamides were designed, synthesized and characterized. The antiproliferative activities of the synthesized compounds were evaluated against two human cell lines (HCT-116 and MCF-7). Compounds with IC50 values below 4 μM were further evaluated against U-87 MG and A549 cell lines. Among these evaluated compounds, compound T10 displayed a remarkable antiproliferative effect in vitro. The hoechst staining assay showed that compound T10 caused morphological changes. The cell cycle and apoptosis assay further indicated that compound T10 can arrest HCT-116 cells in G2/M and G0/G1 phase and induce apoptosis. PI3K enzyme assays indicated that compounds T7 and T10 selectively inhibit PI3Kα. A Western bolt assay further suggested that compound T10 can block the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Moreover, compound T10 inhibited tumor growth on a mice S180 homograft model. These findings directly identify m-(4-morpholinoquinazolin-2-yl)benzamide derivatives as novel anticancer agents.