Evaluation of Cytotoxicity and Apoptosis Induced by Coumarin Hydrazide-Hydrazone Derivatives in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line

Coumarin and aryl hydrazide-hydrazone have attracted our attention due to their vast biological properties. Previous studies suggested that coumarin-tethered aryl hydrazide-hydrazone showed potent activities against HepG2. In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxic potency of the coumarin derivatives 1 - 3 to compare with coumarin hydrazine-hydrazone hybrids 4 and 5 against hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 and LH86 cell lines. Among the tested coumarins, hybrids 4 and 5 showed highly potent activity against HepG2 with IC50 values of 17.82 ± 2.79 and 7.87 ± 0.88 𝜇g/mL, respectively. The hybrid 4 also showed the strongest activity against LH86 cell line with IC50 values of 48.32 ± 2.64 𝜇g/mL. Further, we have studied the mechanism of action of the hybrid compounds 4 and 5 in HepG2 cells via the flow-cytometry analysis and the activation of the caspase-3 and caspase-7. The results showed that hybrids 4 and 5 obviously inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cell line through inducing apoptosis. HIGHLIGHTS Focusing on coumarin and aryl hydrazide-hydrazone possess significant biological properties. We reported the preparation of coumarin hydrazine-hydrazone hybrids and evaluated their effects against hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines HepG2 and LH86. The hybrid compounds exhibited high potency against HepG2 and LH86. Flow-cytometry and caspase-3/7 expression analysis revealed that the hybrid compounds induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells.