N1-(3-(Trifluoromethyl)Phenyl) Isophthalamide Derivatives as Promising Inhibitors of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor: Pharmacophore-Based Design, Docking, and MM-PBSA/MM-GBSA Binding Energy Estimation

Targeting protein kinases is a common approach for cancer treatment. In this study, a series of novel terephthalic and isophthalic derivatives were constructed as potential type 2 protein kinase inhibitors adapting pharmacophore features of approved anticancer drugs of this class. Inhibitory activity of designed structures was studied in silico against various cancer-related protein kinases and compared with that of known inhibitors. Obtained docking scores, MM-PBSA/MM-GBSA binding energy, and RF-Score-VS affinities suggest that N1-(3-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl) isophthalamide could be considered as promising scaffold for the development of novel protein kinase inhibitors which are able to target the inactive conformation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor