Synthesis, anticancer activity, and molecular modeling of 1,4-naphthoquinones that inhibit MKK7 and Cdc25.

Cell division cycle 25 (Cdc25) and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7 (MKK7) are enzymes involved in intracellular signaling but can also contribute to tumorigenesis. We synthesized and characterized the biological activity of 1,4-naphthoquinones structurally similar to reported Cdc25 and(or) MKK7 inhibitors with anticancer activity. Compound 7 (3-[(1,4-dioxonaphthalen-2-yl)sulfanyl]propanoic acid) exhibited high binding affinity for MKK7 (K = 230 nM), which was greater than the affinity of NSC 95397 (K = 1.