Biological evaluation of tubulysin A: a potential anticancer and antiangiogenic natural product.

Tubulysin A (tubA) is a natural product isolated from a strain of myxobacteria that has been shown to depolymerize microtubules and induce mitotic arrest. The potential of tubA as an anticancer and antiangiogenic agent is explored in the present study. tubA shows potent antiproliferative activity in a panel of human cancer cell lines irrespective of their multidrug resistance properties. It induces apoptosis in cancer cells but not in normal cells and shows significant potential antiangiogenic properties in several in vitro assays. It is efficacious in initial animal studies using a hollow fibre assay with 12 different human tumour cell lines. This study suggests that both in vitro and preclinical profiles of tubA may translate into clinically useful anticancer properties.

Comparison of 17-dimethylaminoethylamino-17-demethoxy-geldanamycin (17DMAG) and 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17AAG) in vitro: effects on Hsp90 and client proteins in melanoma models.

The heat shock protein Hsp90 is a potential target for drug discovery of novel anticancer agents. By affecting this protein, several cell signaling pathways may be simultaneously modulated. The geldanamycin analog 17AAG has been shown to inhibit Hsp90 and associated proteins. Its clinical use, however, is hampered by poor solubility and thus, difficulties in formulation. Therefore, a water-soluble derivative was desirable and 17-dimethylaminoethylamino-17-demethoxy-geldanamycin (17DMAG) is such a derivative. Studies were carried out in order to evaluate the activity and molecular mechanism(s) of 17DMAG in comparison with those of 17-allylamino-demethoxygeldanamycin (17AAG). 17DMAG was found to be more potent than 17AAG in a panel of 64 different patient-derived tumor explants studied in vitro in the clonogenic assay. The tumor types that responded best included mammary cancers (six of eight), head and neck cancers (two of two), sarcomas (four of four), pancreas carcinoma (two of three), colon tumors (four of eight for 17AAG and six of eight for 17DMAG), and melanoma (two of seven). Bioinformatic comparisons suggested that, while 17AAG and 17DMAG are likely to share the same mode(s) of action, there was very little similarity with standard anticancer agents. Using three permanent human melanoma cell lines with differing sensitivities to 17AAG and 17DMAG (MEXF 276L, MEXF 462NL and MEXF 514L), we found that Hsp90 protein was reduced following treatment at a concentration associated with total growth inhibition. The latter occurred in MEXF 276L cells only, which are most sensitive to both compounds. The depletion of Hsp90 was more pronounced in cells exposed to 17DMAG than in those treated with 17AAG. The reduction in Hsp90 was associated with the expression of erbB2 and erbB3 in MEXF 276L, while erbB2 and erbB3 were absent in the more resistant MEXF 462NL and MEXF 514L cells. Levels of known Hsp90 client proteins such as phosphorylated AKT followed by AKT, cyclin D1 preceding cdk4, and craf-1 declined as a result of drug treatment in all three melanoma cell lines. However, the duration of drug exposure needed to achieve these effects was variable. All cell lines showed increased expression of Hsp70 and activated cleavage of PARP. No change in PI3K expression was observed and all melanoma cells were found to harbor the activating V599E BRAF kinase mutation. The results of our in vitro studies are consistent with both 17AAG and 17DMAG acting via the same molecular mechanism, i.e. by modulating Hsp90 function. Since 17DMAG can be formulated in physiological aqueous solutions, the data reported here strongly support the development of 17DMAG as a more pharmaceutically practicable congener of 17AAG.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel curcumin analogs as anti-cancer and anti-angiogenesis agents.

A series of novel curcumin analogs were synthesized and screened for anti-cancer and anti-angiogenesis activities at Emory University and at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). These compounds are symmetrical alpha,beta-unsaturated and saturated ketones. The majority of the analogs demonstrated a moderate degree of anti-cancer activity. Compounds 10, 11, and 14 exhibited a high degree of cytotoxicity in the NCI in vitro anti-cancer cell line screen. In addition, this screen revealed that these compounds inhibit tumor cell growth with a higher potency than the commonly used chemotherapeutic drug, cisplatin. In independent in vitro screens conducted at Emory, the same compounds plus 4, 5, 8, 9, and 13 exhibited a high degree of cytotoxicity to tumor cells. Analogs that were effective in the anti-cancer screens were also effective in in vitro anti-angiogenesis assays. Compounds 4, 9, 11, and 14 were most effective in the anti-angiogenesis assays run at Emory. In the assays conducted by the NCI, compound 14 was almost as potent as the anti-angiogenic drug TNP-470, which has undergone clinical trials. Based on the favorable in vitro anti-cancer and anti-angiogenesis results with 14, further in vivo tests were conducted. This compound effectively reduced the size of human breast tumors grown in female athymic nude mice and showed little toxicity. This data, coupled with the remarkable in vitro data, suggests that compound 14 may potentially be an effective chemotherapeutic agent. As a follow-up, a 3D quantitative structure relationship based on 14 has been developed. It shows a cross-validated r2(q2) and a predictive r2(p2) = 0.71. COMPARE analysis suggests the compound to be a possible RNA/DNA antimetabolite, but also implies that the compound's cytotoxicity may arise from a presently unknown mechanism.