title: Dichloroacetate inhibits neuroblastoma growth by specifically acting against malignant undifferentiated cells.
abstract: The small, water soluble molecule Dichloroacetate (DCA) is recently arousing lively interests in the field of cancer therapy for it has been shown to be able to inhibit the growth of human tumors acting specifically on the mitochondria of cancer cells without perturbing the physiology of nonmalignant cells. Neuroblastoma was one of the tumor types on which DCA was considered ineffective as it is composed of cells with few recognized mitochondrial anomalies. Neuroblastoma, however, is composed of different cell types in terms of metabolism, phenotype and malignant potential. Despite the above prediction, in this work, we show that (i) DCA exhibits an unexpected anticancer effect on NB tumor cells and (ii) this effect is selectively directed to very malignant NB cells, whereas the more differentiated/less malignant NB cells are refractory to DCA treatment. This result supports the need of a detailed investigation of DCA anticancer properties against this tumor type with the final aim of its possible use as therapeutic agent.
authors.affiliation: Oncology, Biology, and Genetics Department (DOBiG), University of Genoa, Genoa-Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vella
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tasso
authors.forename: Ranieri
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cancedda
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pagano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003999:Dichloroacetic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D053078:Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D016688:Mice, Inbred NOD; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D003999:Dichloroacetic Acid