Fadil M Hamed¹, Bassam A Hassan², Maitham M Abdulridha³, Hakeem J Kadhim⁴

¹University Presidency, Shatrah University, Shatrah,; ²College of Education, Al-Ayen Iraqi University, AUIQ, Nasiriyah, Thi-Qar,; ³Department of Medical Lab, College of Technical Shatra, Southern Technical University, Basrah,; ⁴Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, Shatrah University, Shatrah, Thi-Qar, Iraq.

For correspondence:-  Hakeem Kadhim   Email: hakim.jawad@shu.edu.iq   Tel:009647804649230

Received: 2 August 2025        Accepted: 19 March 2026        Published: 30 March 2026

Citation: Hamed FM, Hassan BA, Abdulridha MM, Kadhim HJ. Design, synthesis and molecular docking studies of novel azo-linked 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives for targeting C-Met tyrosine kinase receptor as a possible anticancer agent. Trop J Pharm Res 2026; 25(3):297-305 doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v25i3.2

© 2026 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To synthesize and characterize azo derivatives containing the bioactive oxadiazole moiety. Methods: A novel series of azo-linked 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives (compounds 3a - 3d) targeting C Met tyrosine kinase receptor was prepared in a three-step procedure, and cell viability was assessed using an MTT assay against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCCL) cell lines, with crizotinib as a reference drug. Results: Molecular docking scores against the C-Met tyrosine receptor ranged from -5.75 to -8.47 kcal/mol. It is important to note that compounds 3a - 3d were predicted to have better binding affinities than the reference inhibitor, crizotinib, with docking values of -6.80 kcal/mol, and thus are potential C Met inhibitors. These docking findings were also supported by in vitro cytotoxicity HCCL assays. The mean inhibition percentages were as follows: crizotinib (64.33 %); compound 3a (72.42 %); compound 3b (70.14 %); compound 3c (73.54 %); and compound 3d (78.53 %). Conclusion: Comparison of the synthesized compounds with crizotinib has shown that all were more cytotoxic, with compound 3d being the most active. All findings indicate that the synthetic compounds possess considerable promise as anticancer agents targeting C-Met tyrosine kinase receptors and warrant further biological and pharmacological studies.

Keywords: Azo derivatives, 1,3,4-Oxadiazole, C-Met tyrosine kinase, Molecular docking, Cytotoxicity assay

Impact Factor
Thompson Reuters (ISI): 0.6 (2023)
H-5 index (Google Scholar): 49 (2023)