Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-indolinone derivatives as PAK1 inhibitors in MDA-MB-231 cells

P21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) plays a vital role in the proliferation, survival and migration of cancer cells, which has emerged as a promising drug target for cancer therapy. In this study, a series of 2-indolinone derivatives were designed and synthesized through a structure-based strategy. A potent PAK1 inhibitor (ZMF-005) was discovered, which presented an IC50 value of 0.22 μM against PAK1 with potent antiproliferative activity....