Antiproliferative activity of synthesized some new benzimidazole carboxamidines against MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells

Breast cancer is the most endemic cause of cancer among women in both developed and developing countries. Benzimidazole derivatives exemplify one of the chemical classes that show strong cytotoxic activity especially against breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Aromatic amidine derivatives are known as a group of DNA interactive compounds that bind minor groove of the genome, especially A-T base pairs, and show significant in vitro and in vivo toxicity toward cancer cells. In light of these studies, some new mono/dicationic amidino benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for cytotoxic activity on cultured MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Some of these compounds have strongly inhibited MCF-7 cell viability in a dose-dependent manner compared with clinically used reference compounds, imatinib mesylate and docetaxel. Among them, 4-[(5(6)-bromo-1H-benzimidazole-2-yl) amino] benzene-1-carboxamidine (30) showed the best inhibitory activity with IC50 value of 4.6 nM.