title: Cantharidin Overcomes Imatinib Resistance by Depleting BCR-ABL in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.
abstract: Cantharidin (CTD) is an active compound isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine blister beetle and displayed anticancer properties against various types of cancer cells. However, little is known about its effect on human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells, including imatinib-resistant CML cells. The objective of this study was to investigate whether CTD could overcome imatinib resistance in imatinib-resistant CML cells and to explore the possible underlying mechanisms associated with the effect. Our results showed that CTD strongly inhibited the growth of both imatinib-sensitive and imatinib-resistant CML cells. CTD induced cell cycle arrest at mitotic phase and triggered DNA damage in CML cells. The ATM/ATR inhibitor CGK733 abrogated CTD-induced mitotic arrest but promoted the cytotoxic effects of CTD. In addition, we demonstrated that CTD downregulated the expression of the BCR-ABL protein and suppressed its downstream signal transduction. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that CTD inhibited BCR-ABL at transcriptional level. Knockdown of BCR-ABL increased the cell-killing effects of CTD in K562 cells. These findings indicated that CTD overcomes imatinib resistance through depletion of BCR-ABL. Taken together, CTD is an important new candidate agent for CML therapy.
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, China.|Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, China.|Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Xueting
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, China.|Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, China.|Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Jiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Genomics and Precision Medicine, China Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Caixia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, China.|Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210028, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002193:Cantharidin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000187:drug effects; D004249:DNA Damage; D004357:Drug Synergism; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006801:Humans; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020014:K562 Cells; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl; D002193:Cantharidin
keywords: BCR-ABL; cantharidin; chronic myeloid leukemia; imatinib resistance