Euparin (1) as a natural product was derivatized by maleic anhydride (2),
semicarbazide (3), phenylacetic acid (4 and 5), and thiosemicarbazide (6)
and their activities were evaluated in silico by molecular docking studies
to investigate the binding affinities and interaction modes between the
samples and N-myristoyltransferase enzyme. Among the tested samples
(1–6), compounds 1–3 showed significant hydrophobic and hydrogen
bonding interactions with the important residues at the active site of the
receptor. Therefore, the biological properties of compounds 1–3 were
investigated in this work. The antifungal activity of compounds 1–3 was
tested against Candida albicans. Amongst them, euparin 1 with minimum
inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 7.81 mg/mL and minimum fungicidal concentration
(MFC) of 15.62 mg/mL exhibited the highest antifungal activity.
Furthermore, antibacterial activities were studied against two Gram-positive
(Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis), and two Gram-negative
(Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria, the highest zone of
growth on B. subtilis for compound 3 was 13.5 ± 0.7mm, while for compound
2, the zone of growth inhibition against B. subtilis and S. aureus
was 10.0 ± 1.4 and 9.5 ± 0.70 mm, respectively. Finally, the anticancer effects
of 1– 3 were examined using MTT assay against MDA-MB-231 and A-549
cell lines. Compound 2 displayed cytotoxicity on MDA-MB-231 cell line
with IC50 of 166 mg/mL.