| 1. |
- Berndtsson, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Induction of the lysosomal apoptosis pathway by inhibitors of the ubiquitin-proteasome system
- 2009
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 124:6, s. 1463-1469
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The lysosomal apoptosis pathway is a potentially interesting therapeutic target. Since apoptosis involving the lysosomal pathway has been described to involve cathepsins, we screened a drug library for agents that induce cathepsin-dependent apoptosis. Using pharmacological inhibitors and siRNA, we identified 2 structurally related agents (NSC687852 and NSC638646) that induced cathepsin D-dependent caspase-cleavage activity in human breast cancer cells. Both agents were found to induce the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. NSC687852 and NSC638646 were found to inhibit the activity of ubiquitin isopeptidases and to induce the accumulation of high-molecular-mass ubiquitins in cells. We show that 3 other inhibitors of the proteasome degradation pathway induce lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) and that cathepsin-D siRNA inhibits apoptosis induced by these agents. We conclude that a screen for cathepsin-dependent apoptosis-inducing agents resulted in the identification of ubiquitin isopeptidase inhibitors and that proteasome inhibitors with different mechanisms of action induce LMP and cathepsin D-dependent apoptosis.
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| 2. |
- Fayad, Walid, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of Agents that Induce Apoptosis of Multicellular Tumour Spheroids : Enrichment for Mitotic Inhibitors with Hydrophobic Properties
- 2011
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Ingår i: Chemical Biology and Drug Design. - : Wiley. - 1747-0277 .- 1747-0285. ; 78:4, s. 547-557
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cell-based anticancer drug screening generally utilizes rapidly proliferating tumour cells grown as monolayer cultures. Hit compounds from such screens are not necessarily effective on hypoxic and slowly proliferating cells in 3-D tumour tissue. The aim of this study was to examine the potential usefulness of 3-D cultured tumour cells for anticancer drug screening. We used colon carcinoma multicellular spheroids containing hypoxic and quiescent cells in core areas for this purpose. Three libraries (similar to 11 000 compounds) were screened using antiproliferative activity and/or apoptosis as end-points. Screening of monolayer and spheroid cultures was found to identify different sets of hit compounds. Spheroid screening enriched for hydrophobic compounds: median XLogP values of 4.3 and 4.4 were observed for the hits in two independent screening campaigns. Mechanistic analysis revealed that the majority of spheroid screening hits were microtubuli inhibitors. One of these inhibitors was examined in detail and found to be effective against non-dividing cells in the hypoxic centres of spheroids. Spheroid screening represents a conceptually new strategy for anticancer drug discovery. Our findings have implications for drug library design and hit selection in projects aimed to develop drugs for the treatment of solid tumours.
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| 3. |
- Felth, Jenny, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Gambogic acid is cytotoxic to cancer cells through inhibition of the ubiquitin-proteasome system
- 2013
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Ingår i: Investigational new drugs. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0167-6997 .- 1573-0646. ; 31:3, s. 587-598
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Gambogic acid (GA), displays cytotoxicity towards a wide variety of tumor cells and has been shown to affect many important cell-signaling pathways. In the present work, we investigated the mechanism of action of GA by analysis of drug-induced changes in gene expression profiles and identified GA and the derivative dihydro GA as possible inhibitors of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Both GA and dihydro GA inhibited proteasome function in cells resulting in the accumulation of polyubiquitin complexes. In vitro experiments showed that both GA and dihydro GA inhibited 20S chymotrypsin activity and the inhibitory effects of GA and dihydro GA on proteasome function corresponded with apoptosis induction and cell death. In conclusion, our results show that GA and dihydro GA exert their cytotoxic activity through inhibition of the UPS, specifically by acting as inhibitors of the chymotrypsin activity of the 20S proteasome.
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| 4. |
- Fryknäs, Mårten, et al.
(författare)
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Screening for phenotype selective activity in multidrug resistant cells identifies a novel tubulin active agent insensitive to common forms of cancer drug resistance
- 2013
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Ingår i: BMC Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2407 .- 1471-2407. ; 13, s. 374-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Drug resistance is a common cause of treatment failure in cancer patients and encompasses a multitude of different mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to identify drugs effective on multidrug resistant cells. Methods: The RPMI 8226 myeloma cell line and its multidrug resistant subline 8226/Dox40 was screened for cytotoxicity in response to 3,000 chemically diverse compounds using a fluorometric cytotoxicity assay (FMCA). Follow-up profiling was subsequently performed using various cellular and biochemical assays. Results: One compound, designated VLX40, demonstrated a higher activity against 8226/Dox40 cells compared to its parental counterpart. VLX40 induced delayed cell death with apoptotic features. Mechanistic exploration was performed using gene expression analysis of drug exposed tumor cells to generate a drug-specific signature. Strong connections to tubulin inhibitors and microtubule cytoskeleton were retrieved. The mechanistic hypothesis of VLX40 acting as a tubulin inhibitor was confirmed by direct measurements of interaction with tubulin polymerization using a biochemical assay and supported by demonstration of G2/M cell cycle arrest. When tested against a broad panel of primary cultures of patient tumor cells (PCPTC) representing different forms of leukemia and solid tumors, VLX40 displayed high activity against both myeloid and lymphoid leukemias in contrast to the reference compound vincristine to which myeloid blast cells are often insensitive. Significant in vivo activity was confirmed in myeloid U-937 cells implanted subcutaneously in mice using the hollow fiber model. Conclusions: The results indicate that VLX40 may be a useful prototype for development of novel tubulin active agents that are insensitive to common mechanisms of cancer drug resistance.
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| 5. |
- Haglund, Caroline, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of an inhibitor of the ubiquitin-proteasome system that induces accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins in the absence of blocking of proteasome function
- 2014
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Ingår i: MedChemComm. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2040-2503 .- 2040-2511. ; 5:3, s. 376-385
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) represents one of the most promising therapeutic targets in oncology to emerge in recent years. Here we used a combination of cytotoxic and image-based screening assays to identify a novel UPS inhibitor, designated HRF-3. HRF-3 evokes a gene expression profile similar to that of other characterized ups inhibitors, suggesting a common mechanism of action. Consistent with UPS inhibition, HRF-3 induced strong accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins in cells. Surprisingly, HRF-3 induced only weak accumulation of two proteasome targeted reporter proteins, Ub(G76V)-YFP and ZsGreen-ODC. Consistent with this observation, HRF-3 did not inhibit proteasome proteolytic activity in an in vitro assay. Similar to a number of other UPS inhibitors, HRF-3 increased the expression of the redox-inducible protein Hmox-1. In distinction to the 20S inhibitor bortezomib, but similarly to two different p97/VCP inhibitors. HRF-3 did not elicit strong induction of the chaperone Hsp70B'. Finally, we show that HRF-3 is cytotoxic to a variety of cancer cell lines and ex vivo patient tumour cells, with the strongest activity observed in cells of leukemic/myeloma origin. Taken together our data show that HRF-3 induces polyubiquitin accumulation in the absence of efficient proteasomal blocking, and suggest that induction of oxidative stress is a common denominator of UPS inhibitors.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Hassan, Saadia, et al.
(författare)
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Novel activity of acriflavine against colorectal cancer tumor cells
- 2011
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Ingår i: Cancer Science. - : Wiley. - 1347-9032 .- 1349-7006. ; 102:12, s. 2206-2213
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A high-throughput screen of the cytotoxic activity of 2000 molecules from a commercial library in three human colon cancer cell lines and two normal cell types identified the acridine acriflavin to be a colorectal cancer (CRC) active drug. Acriflavine was active in cell spheroids, indicating good drug penetration and activity against hypoxic cells. In a validation step based on primary cultures of patient tumor cells, acriflavine was found to be more active against CRC than ovarian cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This contrasted to the activity pattern of the CRC active standard drugs 5-fluorouracil, irinotecan and oxaliplatin. Mechanistic studies indicated acriflavine to be a dual topoisomerase I and II inhibitor. In conclusion, the strategy used seems promising for identification of new diagnosis-specific cancer drugs.
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| 8. |
- Jarvius, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Piperlongumine induces inhibition of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in cancer cells
- 2013
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Ingår i: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications - BBRC. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-291X .- 1090-2104. ; 431:2, s. 117-123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Piperlongumine, a natural product from the plant Piper longum, has demonstrated selective cytotoxicity to tumor cells and to show anti-tumor activity in animal models [1]. Cytotoxicity of piperlongumine has been attributed to increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cancer cells. We here report that piperlongumine is an inhibitor of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Exposure of tumor cells to piperlongumine resulted in accumulation of a reporter substrate known to be rapidly degraded by the proteasome, and of accumulation of ubiquitin conjugated proteins. However, no inhibition of 20S proteolytic activity or 19S deubiquitinating activity was observed at concentrations inducing cytotoxicity. Consistent with previous reports, piperlongumine induced strong ROS activation which correlated closely with UPS inhibition and cytotoxicity. Proteasomal blocking could not be mimicked by agents that induce oxidative stress. Our results suggest that the anti-cancer activity of piperlongumine involves inhibition of the UPS at a pre-proteasomal step, prior to deubiquitination of malfolded protein substrates at the proteasome, and that the previously reported induction of ROS is a consequence of this inhibition.
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| 9. |
- Zhang, Xiaonan, et al.
(författare)
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Induction of mitochondrial dysfunction as a strategy for targeting tumour cells in metabolically compromised microenvironments
- 2014
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 5, s. 3295-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abnormal vascularization of solid tumours results in the development of microenvironments deprived of oxygen and nutrients that harbour slowly growing and metabolically stressed cells. Such cells display enhanced resistance to standard chemotherapeutic agents and repopulate tumours after therapy. Here we identify the small molecule VLX600 as a drug that is preferentially active against quiescent cells in colon cancer 3-D microtissues. The anticancer activity is associated with reduced mitochondrial respiration, leading to bioenergetic catastrophe and tumour cell death. VLX600 shows enhanced cytotoxic activity under conditions of nutrient starvation. Importantly, VLX600 displays tumour growth inhibition in vivo. Our findings suggest that tumour cells in metabolically compromised microenvironments have a limited ability to respond to decreased mitochondrial function, and suggest a strategy for targeting the quiescent populations of tumour cells for improved cancer treatment.
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