Synthesis, molecular docking, and antitumoral activity of alnustone-like compounds against estrogen receptor alpha-positive human breast cancer

Alnustone-like compounds are promising inhibitors for estrogen receptor alpha (ER-alpha), which is a novel cancer therapeutic target. Therefore, 10 alnustone-like compounds with substituents at the phenyl rings were synthesized by condensation of 4-phenyl-2-butanones and cinnamaldehydes via in situ enamination. The compounds displayed either protective activity or inhibited cell growth and proliferation of human breast cancer cells. Molecular docking studies indicated that the synthesized compounds interact with ER-alpha efficiently. In this work, the protective and inhibitive roles of the synthesized compounds were related to their functional groups and to their binding mode of action on ER-alpha protein. The compounds are potential drug candidates as ER-alpha antagonists.