Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Molecular Docking Studies of Novel Pyrazolo[3,4‐d]pyrimidines as Potential Telomerase Inhibitors

Series of novel pyrazolo[3,4‐d]pyrimidines as potential telomerase inhibitors were synthesized. Results of the antitumor assay indicated that compounds 4b, 5a–b, 13b,c, and 14a,b exhibited the most potent activity (IC50 from 39 to 43 μM) against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells (EAC). Also, the newly synthesized compounds were examined for telomerase inhibition by the known a TRAP assay. The results showed that compound 13c has remarkable inhibition activity with IC50 value of 30 μM. On the other hand, computational studies were performed to the titled compounds to get insight in their degree of recognition with the conserved amino acids of the telomerase enzyme active site (code: 3DU6) as promising lead in the cancer cure era.