Ratchanok PingaewSupaluk PrachayasittikulSomsak RuchirawatVirapong PrachayasittikulSrinakharinwirot UniversityMahidol UniversityChulabhorn Research Institute2018-10-192018-10-192013-08-01Molecular Diversity. Vol.17, No.3 (2013), 595-6041573501X138119912-s2.0-84880829458https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/31272A series of arylsulfonyl mono-indoles (10-15), bis-indoles (16-27), and tris-indoles (28-32) have been synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxicity toward four human cancer cell lines including HuCCA-1 (cholangiocarcinoma), HepG2 (hepatocellular carcinoma), A-549 (lung carcinoma), and MOLT-3 (lymphoblastic leukemia). Most of the synthesized indoles displayed cytotoxicity against the MOLT-3 cell line except for analogs 16, 17, and 32. Significantly, the NN -sulfonylphenolic bis-indole series (18-27) and the NN -chlorobenzenesulfonyl tris-indole (30) showed higher antiproliferative activity against HepG2 cell than the reference drug, etoposide. Promisingly, the NN -chlorobenzenesulfonyl bis-indole (20) and tris-indole (30) provided 3-fold and 2-fold stronger activity, respectively, against HepG2 cell than etoposide. Moreover, the phenolic bis-indole (20) was also shown to be the most potent cytotoxic agent against HuCCA-1 and A-549 cell lines with IC50values of 7.75 and 8.74 μ M, respectively. The tris-indole analogs 28, 29, and 31 also exhibited selectivity against MOLT-3 cell. The findings disclosed that NN -arylsulfonyl bis-indoles-bearing phenolic groups are potentially interesting lead pharmacophores of anticancer agents that should be further investigated in more detail. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.Mahidol UniversityBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyChemical EngineeringChemistryComputer SciencePharmacology, Toxicology and PharmaceuticsArticleSCOPUS10.1007/s11030-013-9457-7