Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel pyrazolochalcones as potential modulators of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and inducers of apoptosis in breast cancer cells

A set of forty pyrazolochalcone conjugates and explored their cytotoxic activity against a panel of sixty cancer cell lines. Fifteen conjugates of the series showed excellent growth inhibition (13b-e, 13h-j, 14c-d, 15 a, 15 c-d, 16b, 16d and 18f; GI50 for MCF-7: 0.4-20 μM). 13b, 13c, 13d, 16b and 14d were evaluated for their mechanism in human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7).340