Diselenides and benzisoselenazolones as antiproliferative agents and glutathione-S-transferase inhibitors

A series of variously functionalized selenium-containing compounds were purposely synthesized and evaluated against a panel of cancer cell lines. Most of the compounds showed an interesting cytotoxicity profile with compound 5 showing a potent activity on MCF7 cells. The ethyl amino derivative 5 acts synergistically with cis-platin and inhibits the GST enzyme with a potency that well correlates with the cytotoxicity observed in MCF7 cells. A computational analysis suggests a possible binding mode on the GST enzyme. As the main outcome of the present study, the ethyl amino derivative 5 emerged as a valid lead compound for further, future developments.