Amel M. Farrag

Bio: Amel M. Farrag is an academic researcher from Al-Azhar University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Pharmacophore & Cytotoxicity. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 18 publications receiving 99 citations.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of quinoxaline N -propionic and O -propionic hydrazide derivatives as antibacterial and antifungal agents

Abstract: Novel series of quinaxoline derivatives incorporating N-propionic and O-propionic hydrazide moieties were synthesized. Alkylation of 3-methylquinoxalin-2(1H)-one with ethyl 2-bromopropanoate afforded a mixture of O-alkylated and N-alkylated 3-methylquinoxaline. Hydrazide derivatives were afforded by reaction of O-alkylated and N-alkylated 3-methylquinoxaline with hydrazine hydrate. Condensation of hydrazide derivatives with different aromatic aldehydes and formylpyrazoles afforded the corresponding hydrazone derivatives. The synthesized quinaxoline derivatives were evaluated for their expected antimicrobial activity; where, the majority of these compounds showed potent antibacterial and antifungal activities against the tested strains of bacteria and fungi. Hydrazone derivative which contain 3-p-tolyl-pyrazolyl moiety showed fourfold potency of amphotericin B in inhibiting the growth of Aspergillus fumigatus, twofold potency of gentamycin in inhibiting the growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, equipotent potency of ampicillin in inhibiting the growth of Streptococcus pyogenes, equipotent potency of gentamycin in inhibiting the growth of Proteus vulgaris and Shigella flexneri, equipotent potency of amphotericin B in inhibiting the growth of Aspergillus clavatus, Geotrichum candidum and Penicillium marneffei. Thus, these studies suggested that quinaxoline derivatives bearing a pyrazole moiety are interesting scaffolds for the development of novel antibacterial and antifungal agents.

Computational Approaches in Preclinical Studies on Drug Discovery and Development.

Abstract: Because undesirable pharmacokinetics and toxicity are significant reasons for the failure of drug development in the costly late stage, it has been widely recognized that drug ADMET properties should be considered as early as possible to reduce failure rates in the clinical phase of drug discovery. Concurrently, drug recalls have become increasingly common in recent years, prompting pharmaceutical companies to increase attention toward the safety evaluation of preclinical drugs. In vitro and in vivo drug evaluation techniques are currently more mature in preclinical applications, but these technologies are costly. In recent years, with the rapid development of computer science, in silico technology has been widely used to evaluate the relevant properties of drugs in the preclinical stage and has produced many software programs and in silico models, further promoting the study of ADMET in vitro. In this review, we first introduce the two ADMET prediction categories (molecular modeling and data modeling). Then, we perform a systematic classification and description of the databases and software commonly used for ADMET prediction. We focus on some widely studied ADMT properties as well as PBPK simulation, and we list some applications that are related to the prediction categories and web tools. Finally, we discuss challenges and limitations in the preclinical area and propose some suggestions and prospects for the future.

Chalcone hybrids as potential anticancer agents: Current development, mechanism of action, and structure-activity relationship.

Abstract: The continuous emergency of drug-resistant cancers and the low specificity of anticancer agents have been the major challenges in the control and treatment of cancer, making an urgent need to develop novel anticancer agents with high efficacy. Chalcones, precursors of flavonoids and isoflavonoids, exhibit structural heterogeneity and can act on various drug targets. Chalcones which demonstrated potential in vitro and in vivo activity against both drug-susceptible and drug-resistant cancers, are useful templates for the development of novel anticancer agents. Hybridization of chalcone moiety with other anticancer pharmacophores could provide the hybrids which have the potential to overcome drug resistance and improve the specificity, so it represents a promising strategy to develop novel anticancer agents. This review emphasizes the development, the mechanisms of action as well as structure-activity relationships of chalcone hybrids with potential therapeutic application for many cancers in recent 10 years.