Synthesis, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities, and molecular docking studies of N-arylsulfonylindoles containing an aminoguanidine, a semicarbazide, and a thiosemicarbazide moiety.

Thirty-six N-arylsulfonyl-3-substituted indoles were designed and synthesized by combining the N-arylsulfonylindoles with aminoguanidine, semicarbazide, and thiosemicarbazide, respectively. Their antibacterial activities were screened, and cytotoxic activities were evaluated. The results showed that aminoguanidines (6) exhibited much better antibacterial activity than semicarbazides (7) and thiosemicarbazides (8). Most compounds in series 6 showed potent inhibitory activity against the tested bacterial strains, including multidrug-resistant strains, with MIC values in the range of 1.08-23.46 μM. The cytotoxic activity of the compounds 6c, 6d, 6h, 6j, 6k and 6l was assessed in two human cancer cell lines A590 and SGC7901, and one human normal cell line HEK 293T. The results indicated that compounds selected exhibited excellent activity against the tested cancer cells with IC50 values in the range of 1.51-15.12 μM suggesting the potential of them as new antibacterial and anticancer agents. What's more, the results of resistance study revealed that resistance of the tested bacteria toward 6d is not easily developed. Molecular docking studies revealed that the aminoguanidine and arylsulfonylindole moieties played a significant role in binding the target site of E. coli FabH-CoA receptor.