Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of pyridine-quinazoline-oxadiazole hybrids as novel MELK inhibitors: in-silico analysis, anti-ovarian cancer activity, antioxidant potential, and assessment of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis

Key Points

• Pyridine-based hybrids show strong MELK inhibition and anticancer activity, indicating great potential as new treatments.
• The lead candidate 14j demonstrates favorable drug profiles, enhancing its suitability for future development efforts.
• Assessment of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis suggests the hybrids disrupt cancer cell growth effectively.
• In-silico analysis supports the promising drug design of these pyridine-quinazoline-oxadiazole hybrids, highlighting their therapeutic relevance.