SYUNZ-16, a newly synthesized alkannin derivative, induces tumor cells apoptosis and suppresses tumor growth through inhibition of PKB/AKT kinase activity and blockade of AKT/FOXO signal pathway.
Alkannin is the major bioactive compound of Arnebia euchroma roots, which is used in many therapeutic remedies in Chinese traditional medicine. SYUNZ-16 is a new derivative of alkannin. In this study, anticancer effects of SYUNZ-16 on human lung adenocarcinoma cell line GLC-82 and human hepatocarcinoma cell line Hep3B were tested in vitro. The results showed SYUNZ-16 could obviously inhibit the proliferation of these cancer cell lines via induction of apoptosis, with the evidence of increasing AnnexinV-positive cells and cleaved caspase-3 and PARP fragments. More importantly, we found that SYUNZ-16 could inhibit AKT activity in cell-free system. Treatment of cancer cells with SYUNZ-16 decreased the phosphorylation of AKT. Additionally, SYUNZ-16 partially attenuated the phosphorylation levels of FKHR and FKHRL1 in a dose-dependent and time-dependent fashion, and led to an increase in the nuclear accumulation of exogenous FKHR, and upregulated the mRNA expression of Bim and TRADD in cancer cells. Further study showed that constitutively activated AKT1 transfection could reduce apoptosis induction mediated by SYUNZ-16. The in vivo experiments showed that SYUNZ-16 had inhibitory effects on S-180 sarcoma implanted to mice. And in GLC-82 xenograft models, SYUNZ-16 at 20 mg/kg/qod remarkably inhibited the tumor growth with the T/C value of 45.3%. Taken together, SYUNZ-16 might be a potent inhibitor of AKT signaling pathway in tumor cells. These data provide evidence for the development of SYUNZ-16 as a potential antitumor drug candidate for further research and development.
Deng
Rong
R
The State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Tang
Jun
J
Xie
Bing-Fen
BF
Feng
Gong-Kan
GK
Huang
Yu-Han
YH
Liu
Zong-Chao
ZC
Zhu
Xiao-Feng
XF
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D051379:Mice; D009285:Naphthoquinones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009285:Naphthoquinones; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt