Evaluation of Biological Activities of Twenty Flavones and In Silico Docking Study

This work aimed to evaluate the biological activities of 20 flavones (M1 to M20) and discuss their structure–activity relationships. In vitro assays were established to assess their numerous biological activities (anti-α-amylase, anti-acetylcholinesterase, anti-xanthine oxidase, anti-superoxide dismutase, and anticancer cell lines (HCT-116, MCF7, OVCAR-3, IGROV-1, and SKOV-3 cells lines)). An in silico docking study was also established in order to find the relationship between the chemical structure and the biological activities. In vitro tests revealed that M5 and M13 were the most active in terms of anti-α-amylase activity (IC(50) = 1.2 and 1.4 µM, respectively). M17 was an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase (XOD) and performed better than the reference (allopurinol), at IC(50) = 0.9 µM. M7 presented interesting anti-inflammatory (IC(50) = 38.5 µM), anti-supriode dismutase (anti-SOD) (IC(50) = 31.5 µM), and anti-acetylcholinesterase (IC(50) = 10.2 µM) activities. Those abilities were in concordance with its high scavenging activity in antioxidant ABTS and DPPH assays, at IC(50) = 6.3 and 5.2 µM, respectively. Selectivity was detected regarding cytotoxic activity for those flavones. M1 (IC(50) = 35.9 µM) was a specific inhibitor to the MCF7 cancer cell lines. M3 (IC(50) = 44.7 µM) and M15 (IC(50) = 45.6 µM) were particularly potent for the OVCAR-3 cell line. M14 (IC(50) = 4.6 µM) contributed more clearly to inhibiting the colon cancer cell line (HCT116). M7 (IC(50) = 15.6 µM) was especially active against the ovarian SKOV human cancer cell line. The results of the biological activities were supported by means of in silico molecular docking calculations. This investigation analyzed the contribution of the structure–activity of natural flavones in terms of their biological properties, which is important for their future application against diseases.